A cruel woman with previous convictions for theft watched the funeral of her neighbour pass by her house before she raided the dead man's home the following day.
In a "despicable" act Leanne Hunter, who was high on drugs, stole treasured and sentimental items from 65-year-old David Butler, who lived next door just 24 hours after he was laid to rest.
The objects Hunter pinched were of no use to her at all, however, she also found £200 cash in a wallet.
The “disgusting” act came after Hunter realised that her dead neighbours house was lying empty with no one inside.
She had looked from her window to see grieving family members of David Butler lining the front path on the day of his funeral, according to Yorkshire Live.
Her haul during the “absolutely despicable” burglary included Mr Butler’s wife’s death certificate and a marriage certificate, Hull Crown Court heard. Hunter, 27, of 5th Avenue, North Hull estate, admitted burglary on March 4.
Hannah Turner, prosecuting, said that Mr Butler had died two weeks earlier and the family was, at the time, in the process of sorting through his property. There were still a number of items in his home at the time, report Hull Live.
Hunter walked in through the back door, which was not secure, and stole £200 cash from a wallet, CDs, Mr Butler’s wife’s death certificate and the marriage certificate for him and his late wife.
Hunter originally claimed that she saw the funeral procession and “did not put two and two together” about the empty house but it was clear that, in fact, she targeted the premises knowing that Mr Butler had died.
“It’s certain that she would have known that the deceased had passed away and the property was empty,” said Miss Turner. “Beds in two bedrooms were flipped over as though she was looking for stuff.”
A neighbour looked at CCTV and spotted Hunter entering the house empty-handed but leaving with a holdall of Mr Butler’s belongings.
His daughter, Melanie Butler, confronted Hunter and asked for his belongings to be returned. “She refused and shut the door in her face,” said Miss Turner. Hunter later admitted, however, that she took the items out of “curiosity”.
Melanie later said: “The incident has made me feel awful and mentally drained. The items that were taken have really impacted my life. She had no right to take my parents’ belongings.”
Hunter had convictions for eight previous offences between 2007 and 2014, including being sent to a young offenders’ institution for 18 months in September 2014 for two offences of burglary.
Nick Peacock, mitigating, said that, despite what Hunter originally claimed, it was obvious that someone who had seen a funeral cortege pass an empty house would have to realise that someone had died.
Hunter did not remember a great deal about the incident because she was on amphetamine at the time. There had been an eight-year gap in her offending.
“She wants to get on with her sentence and be released at the end of it,” said Mr Peacock. “She wishes simply to get her head down and serve her sentence.”
Judge John Thackray QC told Hunter: “You asserted that, although you saw the funeral procession, you didn’t realise that the occupier of the house that you burgled was recently deceased. I do not accept that. It’s the inevitable inference that you knew very well that the occupier had recently died and you targeted it for that very reason.
“You deliberately targeted the premises of a person you knew had recently died. All offences of dwelling house burglary are serious but this is a particularly mean offence.”
Hunter was jailed for two years and four months.
After the hearing, Melanie, 41, told Hull Live: “It was disgusting. We were still in the process of clearing the house out. We are still in the grieving process.”
She said that her father had died suddenly. “He had just gone to sleep and just didn’t wake up,” she said. “The coroner said it was heart disease.” Her mother, Joy Butler, 51, died in 2012.
Melanie said that her father’s funeral was on the Thursday but Hunter entered the house at about 11am on the Friday and she was in there for a few hours.
“What was most heartbreaking was that she took my Mam’s death certificate and my Mam and Dad’s marriage certificate,” said Melanie. “There was no reason for her to have taken them. She didn’t know my Dad. It was heartbreaking for us.
“She did know that he had died because, when it was the funeral, she was at the top window of her house looking out at the funeral car. Obviously, we were all standing outside. There was no way she didn’t know. Quite a few of us were in Hull KR gear because he supported Hull KR all his life.
“The CCTV footage that we had showed that she knew exactly what she was doing. We didn’t know her. We knew she lived in the same street and she was a drug addict. She would threaten all the neighbours and walk into people’s houses. My daughter is only six and she is scared stiff. It has given her nightmares.”
Melanie said that, as well as stealing £200 cash, Hunter took a ring of sentimental value belonging to her father, food out of the kitchen, a used tube of toothpaste, deodorants, razors and clothes.
“She even took some women’s clothing to someone down the street and washed it before throwing it back at me and giving it back,” said Melanie. “She returned all the clothing. She didn’t return the cash. She took a photo of my Dad out of his house and put it up in her house in the kitchen.”
When asked why Hunter would do that, Melanie replied: “I can’t even answer that. We had Father’s Day cards and she stood them up in the living room of his house and lit candles round them. She put a wedding picture of him and his ex-wife in his kitchen and put lit candles round it. It beggars belief. It’s really unbelievable. She didn’t even know him as a person. The reason she did it, she told me, was curiosity.
“She said the reason she had the marriage certificate and my Mam’s death certificate was because she wanted to take them into the council herself. She took quite a lot of food, which, if she had asked, we would have just given her. She took board games, ornaments and phone chargers.”
Hunter took two wallets, one containing the £200 cash, and another one, with items including payment cards in it, but only the one without the cash in it had been returned.
Melanie said of the prison sentence: “I hoped for more but I am happy that she is doing some time for it because it has been looked at as a serious offence. I am just glad she hasn’t got off. I am happy that she is facing some kind of sentence. I thought she might get a suspended sentence.
“The crime that she has done is absolutely despicable. We are trying to mourn his passing but we have had all this stress.”
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