Two young brothers were left traumatised after one of them found a ‘bogeyman’ intruder under his bed wearing nothing but the child’s underpants.
AhmadHassan, 28, went into the house in Folkestone, Kent, on Halloween while the mum and two boys who lived there were out trick or treating.
When they returned one of the children found Hassan lying under his bed naked apart from a pair of orange underpants that belonged to the boy.
The incident left the boy so terrified he was unable to return to the room, while his brother vomited from the trauma, their mum said.
Police were called and when they arrived they found Hassan in another bedroom, still in the underpants, stretched out in a starfish position on the floor.
He later denied burglary with intent to steal but was found guilty after a jury deliberated for just 40 minutes.
He was jailed for two and a half years at Canterbury Crown Court on Wednesday.
Hassan did not give evidence at his trial – where a police officer described him to jurors as ‘the bogeyman’ – but the court heard he had been under the influence of drugs at the time.
The judge, recorder Christine Wilson, told him she could not ‘begin to imagine’ how his young victim must have felt at seeing him under his bed.
Prosecutor Alex Matthews told the sentencing hearing on Wednesday that the family returned home at about 9pm on October 31 to find toys all over the floor, wet clothes in the hallway and some of their own clothing and bedding disturbed.
She added: ‘It was thought no one was in the house but, to the shock of one of the children, it transpired the defendant was hiding under the child’s bed.
‘Obviously, the family was rather distressed.
‘The defendant was ultimately found in another son’s bedroom and was clearly under the influence of drink or drugs.’
The court heard it was accepted Hassan had not forced entry as the mum believed she may have left a door open, and nothing was actually stolen.
In her victim impact statement, made a few hours after the break in, the mum revealed how she and her sons had been affected.
She said: ‘I’m still shaken, feeling extremely anxious, in shock and ultimately scared. I know the house is now safe but I’m scared to go home.
‘My children are mortified. One will live constantly thinking someone is in the house. He didn’t want to go back to his bedroom without me.
‘My other son threw up as a result of the fear he has been put through.’
They decided not to stay in the house that night and are believed to have since moved.
Hassan, who has no previous convictions, was said to have lived in the UK for 11 years but was homeless at the time of the offence and leading a ‘chaotic’ life.
It is believed he changed into the boy’s underwear as his own clothing was wet.
Alexa Le Moine, defending, told the court the defendant was ‘genuinely remorseful’ for his actions.
She said: ‘One cannot understate the intrusion into one’s home – a safe place and refuge for this family.
‘It is hoped this has not impacted in the long term on her and her children.
‘This is, perhaps, a more unusual case in that he was found on the scene, made no attempt to escape, was asleep on the floor and plainly under the influence, which may be an explanation why he entered the premises and remained as he did.’
Recorder Wilson said the intrusion into the family’s ‘safe space’ and his subsequent behaviour had caused significant psychological harm to all three victims.
She told Hassan: ‘In this case, you didn’t break into the property by damaging any door or window, and you didn’t take anything away.
‘But you entered the property and ransacked a number of toys and garments, including the householder’s underwear.
‘You took off all your clothes and put on a pair of orange underpants belonging to one of the small children in the family and then you hid under a child’s bed.
‘I cannot begin to imagine what it must have been like for that child, on returning home on Halloween from trick or treating, finding a person naked, apart from that child’s own underpants, under their bed.’
As well as a prison sentence, Hassan, of no fixed address, was also handed a 10-year restraining order.
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