Man who stole wedding ring in Telford burglary jailed

Timothy Anderson, 44, was also found in possession of a wrap of heroin after being arrested following the break in at a property at Bennetts Bank, Wellington, in September.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that Anderson, who is a heroin user, saw an opportunity to burgle the house when the owners went out at around 10.30am on September 30.

He used a brick to smash a window to get into the home before carrying out a search to find things to steal.

The court was also told that Anderson, of Spout Way, Malinslee, had 13 previous dwelling burglaries on his record.

Prosecuting, Phillip Beardwell said: "When the couple returned they saw they had been burgled.

"They started looking around to see what had been taken and found a gold Celtic wedding ring and £100 cash from a purse had gone.

"At around 10.20am two officers on patrol in Wellington saw Timothy Anderson stood on Bennetts Bank.

"When it was reported, scene of crime officers found a footprint near the point of entry or exit that came from a trainer that had a distinctive diamond imprint.

"About midday a number of officers were on patrol in the town centre and they saw the defendant who was wearing trainers. They had a distinctive diamond print.

"He said he had been in Wellington earlier that day and they noticed he became nervous and tried to hide an item in his pocket.

"A stop search was carried out and officers retrieved the ring taken from the property."

"They also found £90 cash. As his wallet was searched, a small white wrap of powder was found."

Anderson, who was spending £20 a day on his heroin addiction at the time, made a full admission to police and said he had slipped back into drug use and was going through the effects of drug withdrawal at the time of the burglary.

He admitted charges of burglary, possession of a class A drug and asked for two further dwelling burglaries to be taken into account.

In mitigation, Ravi Sidhu said: "He is not a young man in the general scheme of offending. It is quite clear from his record and the circumstances that he has not been able to fend off a long standing, chronic reliance on heroin.

"This is not a man who breaks in at the middle of the night desperate to steal items to sell to support a flashy lifestyle."

Sentencing Anderson to 40 months in prison for the burglary, recorder Martin Jackson said he could not ignore his previous record.

"I take into account the fact this was an opportunistic burglary but the fact you had gloves says there was some element of going equipped."

No separate penalty was imposed on the drugs offence, although the heroin was ordered to be seized and destroyed.