A MAN’S e-fit description of a burglar helped police to put the intruder behind bars for two years.
Derrick Loughran found two burglars in his home and lived in fear that they would return, said prosecutor Ian Mullarkey.
Mr Loughran had been out for the evening when he returned at 10.20pm and heard footsteps and voices upstairs.
At first he thought it was his son and friends, but then heard a male say: “It’s a camcorder�.
He found items laid out on the floor next to a binliner bag, Teesside Crown Court heard. As Mr Loughran entered a bedroom he was pushed against a door frame and two men ran downstairs and off with £1,200 of goods.
His e-fit description led police to Lee O’Donnell 33, who had committed the night burglary despite being electronically tagged under an 8pm to 8am curfew for threatening behaviour and criminal damage.
The burglary happened when O’Donnell, of Ellerbeck Way, Middlesbrough, was hopelessly addicted to heroin, said Dan Cordey, defending.
Three years ago heroin had left him seriously ill and when he and another man broke into Mr Loughran’s home in Ryehilll Walk, Ormesby, on December 20, he was using it to overcome family difficulties.
O’Donnell pleaded guilty to burglary ahead of his trial and during 26 days on remand behind bars he accepted help for his addiction.
Judge Les Spittle told O’Donnell: “Despite a curfew and being electronically-tagged you nevertheless managed to get into somebody's house
"That justifies an immediate custodial sentence.�
He was jailed for two years.
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