Stranger sleeping on couch

A young man has been ordered to write a letter of apology after drunkenly breaking into his former Brocklehurst home and crashing on the couch — leaving the new homeowner in "complete shock."

Allen James Saunders, 21, pleaded guilty Thursday in Kamloops provincial court to one count of mischief.

Court heard a woman returned home to her house on Windbreak Street on April 20 to find her front door wide open. She went inside and found a stranger sleeping on the living room couch.

The woman called police. Mounties attended and arrested Saunders.

“It appears what occurred here is he was quite drunk. He doesn’t remember committing the offence, but he did so,” defence lawyer Joe Killoran said.

“This is a scary thing for the homeowner, and there’s no attempt on my part to minimize that. But there was no malice intended here — he wasn’t trying to cause any harm.”

Saunders, who now lives in Williams Lake, said he used to live in the Windbreak Street house and his friends dropped him off at the address mistakenly. He was apologetic in court.

Kamloops provincial court Judge Ray Phillips sentenced Saunders to a conditional discharge and 12 months of probation — meaning the conviction will not be on his criminal record if he stays out of trouble for a year.

“To find a complete stranger sleeping on your couch is going to be a complete shock to any homeowner,” Phillips said.

While on probation, Saunders will be required to stay away from the Windbreak Street home and prohibited from having any contact with its residents, aside from a letter of apology he will be required to write to them through his probation officer.