Prolofic burglar is jailed (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Prolofic burglar is jailed

7:16am Monday 21st January 2008 in Swindon By Gazette Reporter

A prolific burglar who was caught in the act as he broke into a house in broad daylight has been jailed for two years.

Shaun Burrows was facing the prospect of at least three years in custody because he has such a bad history of breaking into houses.

But a judge at Swindon crown court gave the 30-year-old the maximum discount of one third after hearing he admitted his guilt and was tackling his drug addiction in custody.

Lynne Henderson, prosecuting, said the victim had gone to work on Monday November 5 when he was called by the police.

She said his house on Graham Street, Swindon, backed on to a service road with other houses behind and a resident there had seen Burrows acting suspiciously.

When the thief was seen scaling a wall and smashing a rear window he called the police and they arrived while Burrows was still in the house.

Officers called through the broken window into the house and he replied I'm coming out' before emerging with a bag loaded with more than 100 DVDs.

He told the police he was homeless, had a heroin problem he could not fund and the weather had turned colder and was finding life on the streets harder.

As well as admitting that break in he told police about ten other burglaries, some from last year and others from 2003.

The court was told that since the age of 16 years old he had been convicted of 20 dwelling house burglaries.

In June 2005 Burrows was jailed for 30 months for six break ins and was also told to serve a year of an earlier two and a half year jail term for more burglaries.

Burrows, of Charlfield Close, Park South, pleaded guilty to one count of burglary and asked for ten further offences to be taken into consideration.

Rob Ross, defending, said his client had been in custody since his arrest on the day of the offence and was serving time for breaching an early release licence from a previous sentence.

Despite him being a three strike' burglar and due to get a three year jail term he urged the court to find exceptional circumstances and not to jail him.

He asked the judge to put off passing sentence for six month so his client had a chance on the outside when he is released in May.

Mr Ross said his client had been in and out of prison for a long time but was now determined to tackle his drug problem.

When he is freed he said Burrows planned to live with his aunt in Marlborough because he felt he could not stay off drugs if he returned to Swindon.

Passing sentence Judge Douglas Field said he could not find a reason to not pass a mandatory sentence but said he would give him the maximum discount.

He said "You are 30 years of age and since you were 16 you have been a prolific burglar and the law tells me that the situation you find yourself in means that I must impose a minimum sentence of three years, not a maximum, unless in ordinary words there are exceptional circumstances.

"I have to weigh against what your solicitor has said against the protection of the public. I have decided I have got to pass a custodial sentence and not a longer one which is going to crush you."