Burglar had iron bar and toy rifle

A mother of two who left her children playing in the back garden while she stepped out for a few minutes returned to find a stranger in the house with an iron bar and her son’s toy rifle.

Nicky O’Driscoll, 36, of The Cottage, Farmers Cross, Cork, pleaded guilty yesterday to committing the burglary at the house at Greenwood Estate, Togher, Cork, on April 29 2013.

Judge Olann Kelleher imposed an eight-month jail sentence on O’Driscoll. The judge said it was a very frightening thing to happen in the family home even though the children were out in the garden and unaware at the time of the intruder.