A VENGEFUL man who wrecked his young grandson’s home after being denied access to the young child has been jailed for three years.

Michael Barlow took a hammer to the home of his son’s ex-partner and used it to smash his way in, destroying property including the TV screen and badly damaging doors and kitchen appliances.

Jailing 50-year-old Barlow, Judge Timothy Stead, at Bolton Crown Court, told him: “It is revenge which underpins the offence of burglary.

“The victim is the mother of your grandson, now aged five. In the course of an estrangement or dispute between her and your son you took sides.

“Well, you are entitled to do that. What you are not entitled to do is take the law into your own hands and exact retribution on someone who was wholly innocent of this in a way which has not only frightened her considerably but has affected your grandson.

“He knows it was you that did it and he is afraid. I dare say he will be afraid for some time to come.”

The court heard how it is not the first time that Barlow has taken revenge on someone. In January 2018 he was jailed for three years after he was sacked by an employer and set fire to a vehicle on his property. He also has other convictions for other criminal damage and affray.

At a previous hearing the court heard how his latest victim was alerted to the break-in at her home on April 3 last year by a neighbour but it was only the following month that forensic tests on blood found at the scene revealed the culprit to be Barlow.

Roger Brown, prosecuting, told the court how Barlow’s son, Callum, and his partner had separated and she, with their son, lived in First Avenue, Little Lever.

Judge Stead was told that Barlow had expected his son to bring the child to visit him, but that did not happen.

And so, in the afternoon, while the First Avenue house was locked and empty, Barlow turned up and wreaked revenge, causing damage estimated at £2,325.

Barlow, of Bromley Cross Road, Bolton, pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to cause criminal damage.

Colin Buckle, defending, previously told Judge Stead: “This defendant really is disgusted and embarrassed because it’s his grandson’s house and the defendant knows the impact it has had on his grandson, who he now hasn’t seen for a year.”