Victim helped catch burglar by following tyre tracks

A BURGLARY victim turned detective and with the help of a neighbour followed bicycle tyre tracks before police eventually snared a man with a bag of stolen goods.

Kyle Parke (27) of Heronshaw, Bushmills, was jailed for six months at Coleraine Magistrates Court yesterday.

A prosecutor said a woman observed a male with a rucksack on a bicycle making off from her property in Portrush. Earlier a patio door had been smashed and items including electronic devices were taken.

The woman and a neighbour followed the bicycle tracks to the Dhu Varren area and police then located Parke pushing a bike and carrying a holdall containing stolen items.

Parke was taken to the Causeway Hospital where he was verbally abusive to police officers and threatened to assault them, the court heard.

When interviewed he claimed he had been visiting a friend in Portrush and had a flat tyre on his bicycle, alleging he found the rucksack and had intended to hand it in to police.

He denied being involved in a burglary but admitted a charge of receiving stolen goods.

Parke also pleaded guilty to receiving stolen goods in relation to another burglary in Portrush, as well as admitting other charges including possessing cannabis, telling police he had been “heavily addicted to drugs for a number of years”.

The court heard Parke — who had since been off drugs for two months — had 69 previous convictions including burglary and handling stolen goods.