A serial burglar who admitted assaulting a woman in her home has lost an appeal against his ten-year prison sentence.

Wayne Eugene Smith, a 47-year-old heroin addict with a nearly two decade history of offences, had argued that Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves had erroneously sentenced him on the basis that there was a sexual motive to the offence, which took place on March 1, 2013.

The court heard that the complainant, a widow who lives with her two young children on North Shore Road, was awoken at around 3am and saw Smith standing inside her second-floor bedroom.

She shouted at the intruder to get out, but he instead leaped onto her bed yelling: “Shut up, shut up.”

They began to struggle and fell off the bed and onto the floor. Smith then began choking her until she was gasping for air and her body went limp.

He then reportedly dragged her to a standing position, telling her: “I’ll kill you. I have a knife, I’ll kill you. Where’s the cash?”

The victim then heard the defendant pull down his zipper before tapping on his jacket pocket, again threatening to kill her.

Afraid for the safety of her children and fearing she would be sexually assaulted, she told the intruder she had money in her kitchen.

Smith then shoved his hat into her mouth and led her to the kitchen, gripping her by the back of the neck. Once there, she produced four $50 bills from a drawer and handed it to him. The defendant then fled, running towards the Dock Hill area.

She then locked the door and called Police, who were able to identify the defendant through fingerprint evidence at the scene. The victim, meanwhile, was treated in hospital for muscle injures and mild abrasions.

Smith was arrested on March 4 and, while being processed at Hamilton Police Station, told officers: “I slipped up. I did some nonsense. Just send me up. I did it all.”

In a subsequent police interview, Smith admitted the offence, telling the officers he committed the crime to fund his heroin addiction.

He pleaded guilty in Supreme Court and was sentenced to eight years in prison for burglary and two years for assault causing actual bodily harm, with Mr Justice Greaves ordering that the two sentences be served consecutively.

Smith subsequently launched an appeal against the ten-year sentence.

During the appeal, defence lawyer Kamal Worrell said Mr Justice Greaves had erred by sentencing on the basis that there was a sexual motive to the offence and was wrong to have the two sentences run consecutively.

However, in written reasons for decision, the Court of Appeal president Justice Sir Scott Baker said the transcript of the judge’s remarks showed there was no substance behind the suggestion that Smith was sentenced on the basis that there was a sexual motive.

He wrote: “What is clear is that the victim feared that there was a sexual motive for the offence when she heard his zip being opened, which she assumed was his trouser zip, but it is apparent that in fact the motive for the offences was to obtain money, which was indeed what the appellant achieved.”

The Court also found that the judge had discretion to order the two sentences to run consecutively as the assault was separate from and additional to the burglary.

The written reasons conclude: “In this Court’s judgement, those sentences were entirely appropriate for these very serious offences, and this is not a case where any of Mr Worrell’s grounds of appeal succeed and accordingly the appeal against sentence is dismissed.”