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A Mansfield couple were awoken in the early hours to the terrifying sight of a man brandishing a meat cleaver beside their bed while a second burglar looked on, a court has heard.

Hussein Hamdallah stood in the doorway of a first floor bedroom on Goldsmith Street at 3.45am, on July 14 2020, while his accomplice menaced their victims.

Nottingham Crown Court was told the couple went to bed after locking up at 10.30pm but were disturbed by a noise and saw the landing light was on.

They saw Hamdallah’s accomplice walk into the bedroom and stand next to them while carrying a knife which he held above his head with the blade pointing down.

The male occupant kicked the knife man hard in the chest and caused him to stumble backwards.

Hamdallah and his co-defendant said something “not in English” and ran away, the court heard.

A meat cleaver was missing from the kitchen and Hamdallah's fingerprints were found on the window where the pair gained entry.

In their statement the couple described themselves as “anxious, angry,” and “fearing how things might have been,” as well as worried the burglars might return.

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The court heard his co-defendant, who has previous convictions for robbery and drugs, was jailed for four years at Snaresbrook Crown Court in 2021.

Almas Ben-Aribia, mitigating, said Hamdallah, of previous good character, was present when the other man took the knife upstairs but there was no evidence that he handled it.

She said he wasn’t arrested until 2023 but hadn’t tried to evade the police or breach his bail while he visited Lebanon for therapy.

Hamdallah, now 24, of Donnington Road, Brent, London, initially denied burglary but pleaded guilty on the day of his trial in March.

Ms Ben-Aribia said he has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but has since turned his life around and is abstinent from cannabis.

On Tuesday, Judge Nirmal Shant KC, honorary Recorder of Nottingham, said “serious violence was threatened” but noted the “very unusual circumstances,” the difference between the roles he and his co-defendant played, the long delay and the progress he has made.

Hamdallah received a 21-month sentence, suspended for two years, with 15 rehabilitation days and 180 hours of unpaid work.

Burglar looked on as knife man menaced Mansfield couple in their bedroom