Thief tracked by an app on stolen phone

The police were contacted and Bridgewood was arrested after he was tracked via an app on the phone to his mother’s address in Winton Street, Lockwood. When the police arrived he was asleep in an upstairs bedroom and the stolen phone was on the landing.

The court heard at the time he was under a community order for damage and possessing cannabis and because of previous burglary convictions was liable for a minimum sentence.

Shufqat Khan, representing Bridgewood, said he was a former serviceman who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bridgewood, 33, of Yews Hill Road, Lockwood, admitted the burglary and was jailed for 876 days, the three year minimum minus 20% for his guilty plea.

The Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC, said the house was occupied at the time and the burglary involved a confrontation between him and some of the residents who had let him go because they did not know what to do.

Fortunately the phone had been recovered because of the tracking device on it and he had admitted what he had done and could be given the maximum credit.

The judge told Bridgewood: “You are somebody who has served your country well in the past and as a result of your service suffer PTSD and have done for some years and in that state found yourself committing

offences.”