SEEING a neighbour’s feet and hands smashing through her front door was a terrifying experience for a Wisbech woman, a court was told this week.

And the man who broke into the property, Stephen Reeve, was back before magistrates to be sentenced, after admitting he broke into the house and assaulted one of the occupants.

The woman who was there when Reeve smashed his way in said in a victim statement: “I am not living a normal life in my own home.”

Reeve, 29, was given a 16 week suspended jail sentence and ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work, and pay �200 compensation and �85 costs.

A restraining order was imposed, forbidding him from contacting the two residents of the property.

“This was an extremely nasty incident, you burst into someone’s home and punched them,” said presiding magistrate at Wisbech courthouse, Jane Melloy.

Angry Reeve, who had been living with his grandmother in River Terrace at the time of the incident on August 12, had complained about noise from neighbours before going round there to confront them.

The man who lived in the property told police: “I heard a banging noise from the front door, the next thing I knew, the defendant had kicked the door in and was standing inside the property.”

Reeve had shouted, and punched the male resident. Reeve’s grandmother had arrived on the scene, and got on top of the victim to protect him, said prosecutor Emma Duckett. Two other people pulled Reeve off; his victim was left with a black eye, a small cut and reddening to his cheek.

Solicitor Michael Hinchliffe said: “This was not a pre-meditated assault; this came as a result of problems he perceives he and his grandparents have had with the family.

“This was a slow burn, but it got too much, and he acted in an inappropriate way.”