Prolific burglar sent back to jail

JON MACPHERSON

APROLIFIC burglar who raided two houses on the same day just months after being released from prison has been jailed.

Leon Patrick Felton broke into one Haslingden house using a set of ladders belonging to the victim before gaining entry into another property a few hours later by smashing a kitchen window, a court heard.

When the 34-year-old was arrested by police he was found holding a carrier bag with training shoes which matched footwear impressions left at both scenes.

Felton, who has 21 previous convictions for more than 40 offences, pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to two counts of burglary with intent to steal.

The court heard how it ●● Leon Felton was the second time Felton had fallen foul of the ‘third strike burglar’ rule and was jailed for 32 months.

Stephen Parker, prose- cuting, said the first burglary happened on Laneside Road in Haslingden on October 23 this year when the owners had gone out to walk their dog.

When they returned they found a set of ladders from their shed next to a broken bathroom window. Broken glass was found inside the property and patio doors had been left open.

Mr Parker said the second burglary happened on the same day on Sidmouth Avenue in Haslingden. The victim returned home from work at 4.15pm and found a kitchen window smashed ‘using a brick or stone’.

Mr Parker said the victim ‘heard noises from upstairs and thought it might have been the burglar inside but was not sure’.

Mark Stuart, defending, said Felton, of Wilton Gardens, Radcliffe, deserved credit for his early guilty plea.

He told the court: “There’s no pre-sentence report and I don’t seek one.

“The defendant has taken a very realistic view. He knows it has to be immediate custody.”

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt said: “Plainly you hadn’t been released for long, maybe only a couple of months, and here you are burgling two people’s houses again.

“It doesn’t matter to them whether you took anything or not.

“It’s really upsetting that somebody breaks into their house and they come back and find the damage.

“It’s so unsettling. They will never leave the house feeling secure again and that’s all your fault.

“You knew it was inevitable that you would receive a long sentence if you committed burglary again.” ●● Sam Cardy with Rhiannon Leeds, co-ordinator at Lancashire Road Safety Partnership