Sigh of relief as serial late-night burglar jailed

Published on 29th March 2007 in News

A burglar from Crowle who broke into homes while the occupants were sleeping has been sent to prison for three years.

Christopher Redmond (44), of Crowland Avenue, has appeared at Grimsby Crown Court, where Court Recorder David Gordon said he believed the defendant to be a 'career burglar'.

Mr Redmond, who has 15 previous convictions, admitted two charges of domestic burglaries and asked for seven other offences to be taken into consideration.

Of these, six involved raids on homes.

Mr Gordon told him: "All these offences were committed in the area of Crowle between December, 2006 and January, 2007."

He added: "Your previous convictions suggest to me you are, in fact, a career burglar."

Craig Lowe, prosecuting, said the first burglary took place overnight on January 17, at an address on Oak Tree Walk.

The male occupant was out at work and his wife and two young children were asleep in bed.

"He returned home, having completed the night shift, to find a pane of glass had been removed from the front window and entry gained," said Mr Lowe.

Stolen were electrical goods, including a computer, worth around £3,000.

However, there was no evidence that Mr Redmond went upstairs, where the man's wife and children were sleeping.

The next burglary took place two days later, when Mr Redmond broke into a home on Cross Street, also in Crowle.

Mr Lowe described these victims as an elderly couple, who were also asleep when Mr Redmond entered the house.

He carried out a tidy search before stealing property worth around £5,000.

Two days later, police officers searched Mr Redmond's home address and recovered some of the items taken in the two burglaries.

He initially denied any involvement but, in the second interview, admitted what he had done and confessed to the seven other offences.

"He said he committed them because he was depressed over debts," said Mr Lowe.

Graham Pressler, defending, said his client accepted he would be jailed for the crimes.

"Redmond knows it is a question of how long he is going to serve," he added.

He said the defendant started a business following his release from a previous jail sentence but got into debt and committed the burglaries because of his financial situation.

Mr Pressler pointed out that Mr Redmond had committed the minimum amount of damage when entering the homes and had not confronted any of the victims.

"Had there been any contact between him and the occupants, he would have been away," he said.

Caught by local cop

Ps John Cram, of Scunthorpe Police, said after the case: "It was obviously a problem for the village.

"It worried the whole of the community, but the problem has now been removed.

"It is made all the better because the officer in the case is a local resident himself, and he has suffered all the fears for himself, his property and his family."