A MAN smashed four windows of a Wigton house after the occupant refused to come out and speak to him, a court heard.

Shane Walker, 34, told magistrates the damage came during “an outburst” by him after his mother had been “getting a bit of grief over weeks and weeks and weeks”.

Walker attended the town address just before 4-30pm on Thursday, 8th February.

“Mr Walker knocked on the door,” prosecutor George Shelley told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court, “asking him to come down to the door so they could speak.

“The victim has told him ‘no’ and to leave the address. It is at this stage that the defendant has walked into the garden, picked up a traffic cone and smashed a window.

Walker used a brick to damage a second window, threw a slab at a third and then used a smaller stone to target a further pane of glass.

“Therefore a total of four windows smashed causing damage estimated at £400,” said Mr Shelley.

When quizzed by police, Walker stated simply: “I’ve only smashed a window.”

In court today (Fri), Walker admitted one charge of criminal damage to the panes of glass. The court heard he had 34 previous crimes on his record — seven offences being against property. His last conviction dated back to 2019, for obstructing police.

Walker was not legally represented by a solicitor during the court hearing. He told magistrates he agreed with the prosecution version of events.

Asked what he wanted to say about the Wigton incident, Walker said: “My mam was getting a bit of grief over weeks and weeks and weeks. It was just an outburst. I shouldn’t have done it.”

Walker, of Howrigg Bank, Wigton, told the court he was a window cleaner by trade.

Magistrates imposed a £100 fine for the criminal damage.

They also ordered Walker to pay £400 compensation to the householder in respect of the smashed windows.