A teenage burglar sexually assaulted a 79-year-old woman after barging into her home.

Reece Wigglesworth, 16, entered the victim’s property in Newcastle wearing a hoodie when she unlocked the chain, thinking he was her son.

The pensioner said he demanded money but she didn’t have any and added she could see him playing with his private parts.

Wigglesworth then pushed the woman against a worktop and sexually assaulted her.

Wigglesworth, who received a caution as an 11-year-old for sexually assaulting a child, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years detention at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

StokeonTrentLive and The Sentinel successfully applied for reporting restrictions to be lifted, with Judge Paul Glenn saying it was appropriate and in the interests of justice for the case to be reported. 

Prosecutor Neil Ahuja said: “He had tried to gain entry to the front door and went to the rear door.

‘Mistakenly thinking it was her son she opened the door. He pushed his way in. He had his hood pulled tight around his face. He asked, ‘Have
you got money’? She replied, ‘No, do I look like I have got any’?

‘He pushed her against a kitchen worktop and grabbed her hard. He stopped because of a loud scream. He hit her over the head and
shouted, ‘Shut the f*** up’, before running away.’

The defendant was arrested three days later after an appeal to find him.

The incident happened seven months after Wigglesworth and an accomplice robbed a disabled woman of her car at knifepoint outside her home on February 18.

He was released under investigation and entered the pensioner’s home in Newcastle-under-Lyme at 7.30pm on October 9.

In a victim statement, the pensioner said she has suffered flashbacks and no longer feels safe in her own home and has had extra security fitted. 

She added she will never forget what happened and it will always stay with her.

The defendant was identified by forensic evidence with his DNA found on the victim’s clothes and the door handle at a neighbouring property.

Wigglesworth, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to robbery, possession of a knife in public, burglary and sexual assault.

Paul Cliff, mitigating, said the defendant wanted to offer his apologies to both victims. 

He said: ‘Any right minded person would be disgusted by his behaviour.’

Mr Cliff said the defendant was aged 15 at the time of the robbery.

Judge Glenn added: ‘It had a significant psychological effect. She was scared to go out at night and she had to move because she did not feel safe any more.’

He said: ‘You are a danger when at large in the community. Your offending is escalating in terms of gravity and frequency. On two separate occasions you have digitally penetrated vulnerable females.

‘You carry knives. You abuse alcohol and drugs. The circumstances of the present offences alone indicate you are out of control.’

Wigglesworth was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and was barred from a range of activities involving children and vulnerable adults.

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