A man who terrorised and attacked his own grandma and smashed up her home has been spared prison.
Thomas Noble, 24, was hallucinating and high on drugs when he attacked 74-year-old Patricia Woodcock who was forced to barricade herself inside a room at her home in York.
Noble, a trained acupuncturist, also attacked his then partner who sought refuge in the same room, York Crown Court heard.
The terrifying incident began at about 6.30am on Saturday 27 April when Mrs Woodcock was woken by her grandson “pacing” around her bungalow.
“Mrs Woodcock got up and noted the defendant appeared under influence of drugs,” said prosecutor Rob Galley.
She tried to calm him down, but Noble pushed her to the floor in the hallway.
“She was unable to get back on her feet and was in fear at what else may be about to happen due to the defendant’s manner,” added Mr Galley.
Noble then threw a key dish at her, causing bruising to her shin.
His partner, who was also staying at the bungalow, went to Mrs Woodcock’s aid after hearing shouting.
When she reached the hallway and told him to stop, she too was pushed by Noble, who grabbed a knife. His partner tried to disarm him, suffering a cut to her hands for her bravery. Noble then started throwing a dog crate around the kitchen.
The terrified women locked the kitchen door and “barricaded themselves” inside the conservatory and called police.
They believed that Noble was hallucinating because he “appeared to think that other people were in the house”.
Noble – who had been living with his gran for about six weeks after losing his job and accommodation – then tried to “smash his way into the conservatory”.
“As he tried to smash the conservatory door, his partner moved a sofa up against the door to barricade herself and the defendant’s grandmother in,” said Mr Galley.
He said that Noble was throwing books, lights and ornaments around the home and pulled down a curtain pole.
As the women cowered in the conservatory, he grabbed a metal chair or crate and threw it at the kitchen window, causing it to smash.
‘I’m in such deep trouble’
Police arrived and asked Noble to unlock the door to let them in, but he refused. They had to force entry through the living-room window.
As they did so, Noble began waving a walking stick and throwing items around. He was “picking up items of furniture and putting them down, and… jumping around”.
Items strewn around the lounge included an upturned TV. Such was his crazed behaviour that an officer drew a Taser gun to bring him under control, but he remained intransigent even when the “Taser dot” was aimed at him.
“Once officers had gained entry to the house, the defendant was non-compliant when being handcuffed and kicked out at officers,” said Mr Galley.
All three officers were injured in the ensuing struggle and Noble spat at one of them after being bundled into the police van.
On route to custody, Noble slipped one of his hands out of the handcuffs. Officers had to use pepper spray to subdue him as they tried to get the cuffs back on.
While in police custody, Noble was heard to say: “I’ve smashed something at grandma’s – windows and stuff. I’m in such deep trouble with grandma.”
Noble, of Fifth Avenue, York, was charged with assaulting his then partner, causing actual bodily harm, assaulting his grandmother and three counts of assaulting a police officer. He admitted all five offences and appeared for sentence today (Tuesday).
In a victim statement read out in court, his grandma said: “I want someone to help him. He’s not very good at accepting help.”
She said the incident had exacerbated her medical conditions.
Noble’s now-ex partner said she was now “fearful” of him and had to lock his grandma inside the conservatory “to protect her”.
Mr Galley said that Noble had a previous conviction for a serious assault from November 2022.
Drug and drink problem
Defence barrister Rhianydd Clement said that Noble had been smoking cannabis since he was 15 years old. His drug use “spiralled” into an addiction and he also had a drink problem at the time.
She said that despite a troubled upbringing, he had been working in a restaurant with his then partner and had been active in sport.
She said that Noble’s grandma was a mother figure to him and that he was “devastated, given that she is the most important woman in his life”.
She said that Noble was now living with his father and pursuing a new career in Chinese medicine and as an acupuncturist.
Recorder Thomas Moran described Noble’s offences as “disgusting” and that his grandmother and former partner were clearly terrified.
He added, however, that character references showed there was a “very different side” to Noble and that if he were to jail him, it would only be for a relatively short perio.
He said for those reasons it would be preferable for Noble to be rehabilitated in the community.
Noble received a 12-month suspended prison sentence with a 40-day accredited programme, 20 rehabilitation-activity days and 80 hours of unpaid work.
