An eagle-eyed burglary victim helped snare the thief who raided his home after spotting him outside his house months later.
Scott Wilson left the children of the house so traumatised by the break-in they started hiding their toys every time they went out after their home was targeted while they were at school and their parents at work. The family returned to find a burglar had smashed a window to gain entry and stole cash, a games console and jewellery worth almost £5,000 in total.
The culprit was caught on CCTV but police were unable to idenitfy Wilson. But months later the man of the house saw Wilson outside his home in South Shields and recognised him as the burglar in the footage.
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Omar Ahmad, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: "Following research he carried out online he found images of the defendant, compared it to the CCTV and passed it on to the police."
The victim said in a statement read to the court: "This man has caused so much upset to my family and quite a considerable amount of jewellery has been stolen from my wife. The jewellery is part of our history and can never be replaced.
"Our two young children with special needs were affected by this. They now hide their toys when we leave the house."
Meanwhile, on August 18, Wilson broke into another home in South Shields while the woman who lives there had gone to the shop for around an hour. She returned to find he had smashed his way in and the value of jewellery stolen and damage done was more than £1,000.
She described a jewellery box she got in 1982 as "priceless" and her late husband's watch had also been stolen. Wilson had left blood on the floor and was identified as the culprit from his DNA.
The woman said in her victim impact statement: "It's the sentimental value. And for this to happen while I was shopping is appalling." None of the property taken in either burglary was recovered.
Wilson, 31, of no fixed address, who has 67 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and asked for three others to be taken into consideration. He was locked up for two years and three months.
Recorder Jason Pitter KC told him: "The one thing you did at the time was ignore the massive damage to the victims in these cases. You had no regard for them at all and had only regard for yourself and your personal circumstances."
Vic Laffey, defending, said: "He feels a significant amount of remorse. His life has been on a downward spiral." He added that after a bereavement his life went off the rails and he didn't care if he lived or died.
Mr Laffey told the court: "He had no money, he was taking whatever he got, trying to sell things and taking drugs and really not caring. He says things have improved dramatically since he was remanded in custody a month ago."
At the end of the hearing, Wilson asked if he could pass letters of apology to the victims.
Read next:
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