BURGLAR NODDED OFF IN A ROCKING CHAIR
Man, 40, broke into flat looking for food
A HAPLESS burglar was caught redhanded by his victim after she found him snoozing by candlelight in her rocking chair.
Lee Simpson had managed to climb into the fourth floor flat after a kitchen window was left ajar so the woman’s cat could get in and out.
Stoke-on-trent Crown Court heard the occupant awoke at 6am to find the window of the apartment, in Sandy Lane, Newcastle, wide open.
A chair was also propped up against the wall.
Prosecutor Jamie Scott said: “When she went into the lounge, she saw Mr Simpson. He was asleep in a rocking chair.
“He did not stir when she asked him who he was. She called the police and officers attended. They were able to rouse him.
“He was searched. In his pockets were various knick-knacks he had found in the lounge.”
Items stolen in the incident on
September 3 included coins and jewellery.
Police also found a Spider-man flick knife on the defendant, which he claimed was just for his own defence as he was homeless.
Now 40-year-old Simpson has pleaded guilty to burglary and having an article or blade in a public place.
As he is a third strike burglar, he has been jailed for 876 days.
The court was told that Simpson, of no fixed address, had broken into the flat to look for food.
“He was hungry, cold and homeless,” added Mr Scott. “He stole the items and then fell asleep when he found a comfortable chair.”
The woman who discovered him later described feeling shocked and stunned. Rather than run and hide, she had stayed with him while she called the police.
Jason Holt, mitigating, said his client felt ‘incredibly disappointed’ with his own actions.
Simpson had got a flat himself, but then a number of people had ‘kicked his door in’ and it got to the point where he was living on the streets.
Jailing him, Judge David Fletcher told the defendant: “I’ve no doubt this was a very worrying experience for the lady.
“She seems to be, although upset, stoically brave enough to ring the police and wait.”