A thug who was part of a hooded armed gang that terrified a mother when they burst into her home has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Charlie Gannon and three others were caught on security cameras forcing their way into the address in Sheerness High Street.

One of the men pulled out a knife before brave Abby Hurn was able to force them back out of the door and lock it.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Miss Hurn was at home with her seven-year-old daughter at about midday on Sunday, October 7. Also in the address were the owner Dave Heaseman and his son Glen.

A judge was shown the “crystal clear” security camera footage in which the victim is seen opening the door to two men with their hoods up, while two others stood back.

Gannon, 23, asked if Glen was in. Miss Hurn closed the door and then returned to tell him Mr Heaseman was still asleep.

Gannon immediately threatened: “We are here to rob you. We are here to take your money.”

“They forced their way in,” said prosecutor Sophie Quinton-Carter. “She makes consistent and strong efforts to resist them. She was trapped between the door and the living room where her daughter was.”

“It seems to me there was an element of chaotic and on-the-hoof thinking..." Judge Huseyin

Gannon showed hesitation when Miss Hurn told them her daughter was nearby. One of the other men pulled out the knife.

“She nonetheless continued in her attempts to push them out of the front door while shouting for Dave and Glen upstairs,” said Miss Quinton-Carter.

“They started backing towards the door and she managed to push them out. She closed the door and locked it.”

Gannon continued to push and kick the door, before he and the others left. He was identified from the CCTV footage by a distinctive tattoo on his hand and arrested.

Miss Hurn said in a victim impact statement that she was haunted by what could have happened if she hadn’t been “brave and strong enough to get them out”.

She added that she now stayed at hotels when she was likely to be alone in the house and could no longer have her daughter staying there.

Gannon, of Valley Side, Chingford, north east London, admitted aggravated burglary.

Hugh D’Agular asked Judge Martin Huseyin to pass a sentence that was “as short as humanly possible”.

The judge told Gannon, who has previous convictions for burglary and other offences, that homes were desecrated when burgled, and it was even more terrifying when the victim was present and a knife was involved.

“You don’t have a history of serious violence,” he said. “It seems to me there was an element of chaotic and on-the-hoof thinking about how this offence occurred.

“This very brave lady was able to push four men out. You are still only 23. There are aggravating features.

“A child was present a few metres away and must have heard what was going on. The victim has had to make a series of changes to her lifestyle.”

Judge Huseyin said Gannon had shown remorse and had written a letter to the court which was not just “soppy” to get sympathy.

“It seems to me this offence was somewhat out of character and a serious escalation of your offending,” he added.