Let off by police, would-be burglar who ‘ left his jail ID card behind’
IT’S not the kind of calling card anyone wants to receive.
But a homeowner considered herself lucky that she was not burgled when she found a prisoner’s ID document in her back garden. It carried the name Terry Ford, his date of birth, where he had been incarcerated and even a mug shot. Yet when the woman, who does not want to be identified, contacted the police, she was told no action would be taken as there had not been a break-in. Instead, she was asked to hand in the ID card as ‘lost property’. It is not known if its owner has visited the local police station to reclaim it. Repeat offender Ford’s own mother took a tougher stance than the police yesterday when she said he should be jailed again ‘for everyone’s sake’.
The suspected attempted break-in happened on Monday night in Basildon, Essex, three days after Ford, 31, was freed from Wayland prison after a burglary conviction in February.
The homeowner, a hairdresser, heard her rottweiler barking in the night and suspected it might have scared off an intruder. Her fears appeared to be confirmed the following morning when her daughter found Ford’s prisoner ID card in the garden of the terraced house.
She complained on social media: ‘Well Mr Ford, I can see you paid my house a visit and dropped your card. Keep an eye out everyone. He must be on the stealing spree again.’
The woman reported it to Essex Police and was given a crime number before being told the case was being closed. ‘They have told me to take the card down to them,’ she said yesterday. ‘They are not treating it as a robbery as he didn’t get in and so they said it is a closed case.
‘But they said they know him by name and if he breaks in anywhere they know who to look for.’
Ford, who lives in Basildon, was previously jailed for a total of 55 weeks in July 2016 for two offences while on a suspended sentence.
He admitted taking £5,000 worth of equipment including a stereo after breaking into a house in Basildon and stealing £80 from a Subway store. At the time, his lawyer Mark Pearson told Basildon magistrates that his client had turned to drugs including heroin after the breakdown of his marriage.
Ford’s latest suspected victim said yesterday: ‘I saw him the other day standing by a cash machine asking for money.’
The criminal’s mother Janice Ford, 55, said: ‘I’m sad to say I am his mum. He was a lovely little boy. I can’t believe he has turned out like this.
‘Please don’t believe anything he tells you to con money. I am praying it won’t be long before he gets put back inside, for everyone’s sake.’
Essex Police said: ‘We received a call at 7.30am [on] May 1 to reports of lost property outside an address. The caller has been advised to return the item to her local police station.’
‘I am praying he gets put back inside’