Burglar is jailed for five-and-a-half years

Martin Edwards had only just been released from prison for burglary when an elderly couple found him in the hallway of their home in Whittington, Shrewsbury Crown Court was told.

He was charged by police for that offence.

But while he was on bail, the father-of-one broke into two further homes and attempted to burgle another all on the same day in Shrewsbury.

Edwards, of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary.

The 35-year-old appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday (FRI) for sentencing.

The court heard Edwards was released from prison in August 2013 after serving a 16-month term for burglary and theft.

Miss Nazneen Sultan, prosecuting, said: "Within a couple of months he was re-offending again.

"The complainants were a retired couple, a Mr and Mrs Marshall.

"Mr Marshall was 64, and at about 5.30pm on October 26 2013, the couple were both present at home in Park Crescent, Whittington, when Mr Marshall encountered an intruder in the hallway.

"He challenged the intruder by asking him what he was doing. He said he was looking for someone called David Rhodes.

"Mrs Marshall then joined her husband and both told him to get out, which he did."

Miss Sultan said police were called and Edwards was arrested in the vicinity after the couple gave descriptions to officers.

He was picked out of an identification parade by the couple and charged with burglary but bailed on November 18 last year, the court heard.

"While on bail he committed a further three offences on December 10," Miss Sultan said.

"He attended a probation interview where concerns were raised he may have been under the influence of drugs.

"About 20 minutes after leaving there a Mrs Ponzo, a 75-year-old female who lived in Pound Close, Shrewsbury, confronted the defendant who was stood in her dining room.

"She asked him what he was doing in the house and he said he was looking for someone called Dave Rogers.

"She said she didn't know him and the defendant walked out of the back door.

"Within minutes of leaving, the defendant made his way to another home in Pound Close, where a woman was at home with her four young children.

"She heard a knock at the front door and as she approached she could see somebody was trying the handle. She told him to go away and he did."

Both complainants also picked Edwards out at an identity parade, the court heard.

The prosecutor said the defendant was arrested shortly after outside Shrewsbury railway station.

She said he was found in possession of car keys belonging to Gerald Davies, of St Julian's Friars, Shrewsbury.

Mr Davies told police he had also found Edwards in his house, in one of the upstairs bedrooms, on December 10 and had escorted him off the premises.

The family did not report the matter immediately as they were going abroad on holiday, the court was told.

Mrs Debra White, for Edwards, said her client had suffered for a long time with drug addiction but had recently become a father and had a job offer waiting for him on his release from prison.