Rabbit-kicking burglar jailed for latest spree
Northumbria PoliceA man who was previously caught on CCTV kicking a family's rabbit as he tried to break into their home has been jailed for his latest spree.
Jack Morgan, 27, and two other men were seen trying the door handles of several homes in Birtley in the early hours of 4 January this year, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Morgan, from Washington, was jailed for 19 months after he admitted attempted burglary and possessing Class B and C Drugs and a knuckle-duster.
He had previously been jailed for an attempted burglary in which he attacked a family's pet rabbit, the court heard.
In the early hours of 4 January, two different householders saw three men trying the handles of their homes in Birtley on their CCTV systems, prosecutor Claire Anderson said.
Police arrived and chased the trio, with Morgan found hiding behind a garden fence, the court heard.
He was wearing black gloves and had a knuckle-duster in his pocket along with cannabis and temazepam tablets, the court heard.
'High risk of harm'
In a statement read to the court, one of the householders said Morgan and his associates had "violated" his family's privacy and he feared what would have happened had they succeeded in breaking in.
Morgan had 21 previous offences on his record, including an attempted burglary and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal for which he was jailed for 24 weeks, the court heard.
Both of those stemmed from February 2025 when Morgan and another man were seen on CCTV entering the garden of a house where there was also a pet rabbit, Anderson said.
The pair picked the rabbit up and threw it across the garden, then Morgan kicked it full force but "thankfully" it was uninjured, the prosecutor said.
In mitigation, Jordan Parkinson said Morgan was trying to change his ways and carried a knuckle-duster for protection after being left blind in one eye and deaf in one ear when he was attacked with boiling water while in prison.
Judge Carolyn Scott said Morgan had been assessed by the probation service as posing a "high risk" of reoffending and causing "serious harm".
