A mother and daughter screamed for help after a drunk former convict stumbled into their house – after thinking he was in his own home 11.3miles away.

A neighbour came to the rescue of Elizabeth Gregory and her daughter Ann as they screamed out of a bedroom window that a stranger had broken into their house.

The terrified mother and daughter hid in an upstairs bedroom after finding the drunk had let himself into their Antrobus house, after hearing the door and thinking Elizabeth's husband was coming home from playing snooker.

The stranger, Richard Crellin, snapped the handle of her back door clean off trying to lock himself in as the women ran to safety, Chester Magistrates Court heard today (Wednesday, September 10).

The Morrisons’ warehouse worker was discovered coming out of a cupboard under the stairs by a heroic neighbour who came to the rescue after hearing the women crying for help at around 7.30pm on August 17.

He claimed he was a “friend” but the neighbour called the police after Crellin couldn’t name anyone in the house correctly and became aggressive after being asked if he was “burgling the house”.

But Crellin claimed he was so drunk he had walked all the way from a pub in Stockton Heath to his new Middlewich home – in reality he was still over 14 miles away.

Crellin, who was on licence at the time of the offence after being released from prison in March, was fined £155 and ordered to pay compensation of £30, to replace the door handle, after pleading guilty to the charge of criminal damage.

The 25-year-old, formerly of Cuddington, said he had been out drinking for the first time since his release from prison, and couldn’t remember anything when he woke up in the police cell.

Crellin said he believed he was in his own home and had his own back door key in his hand when he opened the door and walked in – and wanted to relax on the sofa and then go to bed.

At around 7.30pm on Sunday, August 17, Mrs Gregory was watching TV with her daughter when she heard the back door open and thought it was her husband coming home.

But she was shocked to find a strange man in her house, who was trying to lock the door behind him.

“She was clearly shocked and she was terrified as to what the defendant’s intentions were,” said Alan Currums, prosecuting.

“She was frightened for both her safety and the safety of her daughter, so she ran upstairs with her daughter. They went to the bedroom window and screamed for help.”

A neighbour heard them and came to their rescue, and when he found Crellin he asked him if he was burgling the house, at which point he became aggressive, Mr Currums added.

“[The neighbour] told him to sit in the lounge and went upstairs to the mother and daughter.”

When police arrived at the house they found that the door handle had been sheered off.

Crellin, who was released from prision in March after serving a sentence for similar offences, had been out drinking with his Uncle – he said it was the first time he touched alcohol since his release.

He claimed he had drunk four or five double vodkas and Red Bull and three pints of lager, and the last thing he remembered was walking out of a pub in Stockton Heath – he believed he had tried to walk home.

“My client believes he was so drunk he walked from Stockton Heath and was in Middlewich and had entered his own house,” said Taryn Craddock, defending.

“He has written a letter of apology, he knows how disturbing it would have been at the time.”

Crellin, formerly of Cuddington, avoided being recalled on his licence to prison and was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a £20 victim surcharge.