Elderly man too afraid to contact police after break-in, court hears

AN 80-YEAR-OLD man whose north Belfast home was burgled was too afraid to contact police, a court heard yesterday.

The home of the elderly occupant was one of four properties targeted in Belfast and Limavady in July 2018.

Details of the break-ins emerged during the sentencing of 20-year-old Sheree Rose Mackin, who was described as “not the chief organiser, planner or motivator” in the spree but who was “willing to go along with the others and play an active role”.

Mackin, from Ballycarry Street in Belfast, pleaded guilty to three burglaries and one attempted burglary, and was sentenced to 21-and-a-half months. She appeared at Belfast Crown Court via video-link from Hydebank Wood, and was told by Judge Stephen Fowler QC that she will spend seven-and-a-half-months in custody, followed by a 14-month period on licence.

Two other co-accused also face charges but were not in court.

Judge Fowler said Mackin and a male broke into a house on Belfast’s Hogarth Street at around 6.45am on July 30, 2018 where they stole items including a PlayStation, a laptop and a drill.

The occupant was woken by noises downstairs, and when he looked out his window he saw two people fleeing. He found a Post Office card on a bedroom floor, and when police later contacted the card’s owner, it emerged it belonged to an elderly neighbour.

When police went to the pensioner’s Glenrosa Street home, he told officers he had been burgled around 6am, but was too afraid to contact police.

He was distressed, and said he had woken to discover two people in his bedroom. When he asked the intruders what they were doing, the male replied “we’re breaking into your home”.

The pair ran from his room and stole £1,023, a watch and the Post Office card which was later dropped during the breakin at Hogarth Street. Judge Fowler said Mackin was forensically linked to both scenes — via DNA found on a muddy soak and a fingerprint on a stolen item.

Mackin and her co-accused were captured on CCTV at 7.20am at an apartment building in Belfast pushing a shopping trolley containing items such as the stolen drill. Later that day, the pair and a second man left Belfast and travelled to Limavady in an orange van.

At 5pm, a woman heard a noise in the bedroom of her Seacoast Road home in Limavady. She opened the door and saw Mackin and a man in the room.

The occupant ran from her house to a neighbour’s, where they saw a man and woman come onto the road and get into an orange van. When she returned home, she discovered an Amazon Fire Stick and medication had been taken.

When the owner of a second property on Seacoast Road returned home, she found her bedroom window had been opened and there were marks around her utility window.

As the van left the scene, police were alerted and the vehicle was stopped on the outskirts of Limavady. All three occupants, including Mackin, were arrested.

As he sentenced Mackin for her role, Judge Fowler noted she was not the organiser — but went along and played her part.

Judge Fowler said the offending was carried out with and “arrogance and indifference” to the impact their actions would have on their victims — especially the pensioner who was “left too afraid to report the matter to police”.

The judge also said it was clear she was remorseful.