Burglar jailed for 14 months (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Burglar jailed for 14 months

5:29pm Monday 21st July 2008 in Swindon By Gazette Reporter

A burglar who stole thousands of pounds worth of property from houses has been jailed for 14 months.

Daniel Mason broke into nine homes across town to feed his crack cocaine addiction, a court has been told.

But the 33-year-old was jailed after a judge said he had been given chances to get off drugs in the past and still re-offended.

Rosie Walsh, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court today how a woman returned to her home in Freshbrook on Monday June 9 to find she had been burgled.

Each of the rooms in the house had been disturbed and a lap top computer, game console and abut 30 games worth a total of about £3,000 had been taken.

Neighbours told how they saw a man leaving the property through the garden with a black bin liner filled with items.

Mason was arrested a couple of days later and admitted he had a crack cocaine problem which escalated a few weeks before the break in.

He also told police that he had burgled a further eight houses, taking property worth £9,000 in one raid, as well as committing other offences.

Mason, of Rayfield Grove, Gorse Hill, pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary and asked for 16 further offences to be taken into consideration.

The court heard that eight of the other offences were the burglaries of dwellings and the other matters theft and criminal damage.

Paul Orton, defending, said his client met his partner when he was 20 and they had two children, the oldest of whom is now ten years old.

He said he worked for Motorola and then BMW and they lived in a house in Grange Park before his job was moved to the car company's Oxford plant.

But his relationship broke down and since signing his house to his former partner he has not had a stable home and after living with his grandmother for a while he started taking drugs.

Mr Orton said having spent a month in custody on remand Mason was off drugs and realised he had behaved badly.

The court heard he was put on a community order in June 2006 for burgling a house.

Jailing him Judge Douglas Field said "This is a serious offence, burgling someone's house and taking equipment in the region of £3,000.

"You have a previous conviction for burglary for which you received a non custodial sentence.

"In the past you have been given the opportunity to deal with your problems on a non custodial basis and it hasn't worked. Here you are saying you have a drug problem having committed these offences."