A barmy burglar - who thought he was the writer CharlesDickens - turned a 15 Century Grade II-listed building into a “Bleak House” when he went on a orgy of drunken violence.

Sozzled Russell Bibby – who had been at a nearby wedding reception – broke into the 600- year-old house in Sandwich causing £17,500 worth of damage.

And after the 34-year-old fled across roofs in Church Street dressed in a stolen dinner jacket he told stunned police: “I thought I was in Victorian London. I was running across the roofs...I thought I was Dickens!”

But now Bibby, of Station Road, Adisham is facing hard times – after a judge jailed him for three years for burglary.

Victims John and Dorothy Fothergill had bought the stunning house two years ago and had “lovingly and painstakingly” restored it to its former glory.

The couple, who worked and lived in Dubai, had hoped to return to live in the property – but Canterbury Crown Court heard how it had been now been trashed.

Like a villain from one of Dickens’ stories, Bibby went on the rampage...smashing doors, windows and priceless mirrors; ripping a bath from the wall; flooding a ceiling by pulling away water pipes; urinating on an antique rug and defecating on a carpet and in a brand new bath.

And the only thing the burglar stole in November last year was a dinner jacket with a question mark symbol sewn on the back!

Prosecutor Tom Dunn told Canterbury Crown Court that Bibby was still wearing the jacket when police arrived after being alerted by neighbours to the noise of things being smashed.

Officers discovered a group of wedding guests standing nearby and one of them, Charlotte Burley – Bibby’s partner at the time – told them she feared he was responsible.

He was arrested – still high on a cocktail of drink and drugs – telling police: “I’ve done wrong haven’t I? I thought I was in Victorian London, mate. I was running across the roofs. I thought I was Dickens!

The prosecutor said: “The house is a 15 Century Grade II listed dwelling house which the Fothergills had owned for two years and had spent energy and money restoring it. It had been checked the previous day before the burglary by Mrs Fothergill’s parents and it was in order.

“After police had been alerted they found five to six people in Church Street, all smartly dressed and spoke to them about the noise. One of that group identified herself as Ms Burley said the male responsible was her partner Russell Bibby!

“A short while later during a search in a nearby garden they found and arrested Bibby. He then made his rather bizarre comments. He then said: ‘It’s been 13 years since I have been a bad boy. I don’t know how I went from drinking to running across the roofs. It’s like Victorian London’, “ he added.

It was revealed later that the attack followed a bust-up between Bibby, who had been living in St John’s Road in Dover at the time, and his partner at the wedding reception.

Mr Dunn said Bibby had done “some appalling damage to the property” including smashing the front door, before throwing the TV to the floor . He then ripped out a wine fridge and damaged a washing machine and drier.

He said: “An antique rug had been urinated on; a mirror with an antique French cupboard had been smashed, a brand new Philippe Starck ghost chair was left cracked, chipped and scratched.

“The defendant had also urinated and defecated on carpets and inside the bath. In addition the bath had been ripped from its fittings, causing water to flood through the bathroom and into the ceiling below, “ he added.

!" - Russell BibbyDickens“I’ve done wrong haven’t I? I thought I was in Victorian London, mate. I was running across the roofs. I thought I was

Mrs Fothergill would later tell police the couple had spent 18 months and “a not inconsiderable amount of money” restoring the house using specialist craftsmen.

She said it had been “profoundly saddening” to see their home “so rapidly and pointlessly pulled apart. The specifically malicious and unpleasant nature of it will be hard to forget. Our feeling of safety in the house has also been destroyed.”

Mrs Fothergill revealed she had planned to stay at the house while her father went into hospital – but now had to stay in a friend’s spare room.

Thaiza Khan, defending, said Bibby was “extremely sorry, remorseful and ashamed” and had been suffering a psychosis at the time “when he was exhibiting delusional behaviour.”

But Judge Adele Williams told Bibby, who admitted the charge: “You deliberately targeted this house because it was unoccupied and was a period house.

“You said that your only explanation was the row with your partner and you were taking it out on this house. If you take so much alcohol and cause this amount of damage then you have only yourself to blame.”