Career burglar must serve extra two years inside

Wayne Woolridge is already serving a three-year nine-month jail term imposed on June 10 for a burglary in which £2,700 cash, jewellery and bank cards were stolen on May 5.

But the day after the prison term started police visited the jail to arrest the 40-year-old for two further burglaries, a judge was told.

The first took place on April 26 and involved the theft of two rings, both of which were of “considerable sentimental value” to the occupant of the house in Walsall Wood Road, Walsall Wood, said Mr Paul Spratt, prosecuting at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Woolridge got into the property by smashing the glass in the front door while those living there were out and escaped with £20 cash and the jewellery.

Pawnbroker

Four days later he struck again, breaking into an address in Walsall Road, Pelsall, in exactly the same way and stealing three military meals awarded to the father of the female occupant.

He also took three rings worth more than £1,000, sunglasses and a small amount of foreign currency after an untidy search of the property before heading to a pawnbroker shop where a woman and the defendant sold the rings, which have not been recovered, for £175, continued the prosecutor.

Woolridge, of no fixed address, who admitted both offences, then went on a drive round the Pelsall area with police during which he identified eight other houses he had burgled in less than a month, the court heard. He asked for those offences be taken into consideration.

Ms Blondelle Thompson, defending, said: “He is not proud of his criminal record and hopes to live a lawful life on his release. He had nowhere to live and sold items stolen during the burglaries so he could pay for accommodation. He has no contact with his family and no friends.”

Judge Dean Kershaw told the defendant: “You have an unbelievable number of burglary convictions. I am making this sentence consecutive to the one you are already serving and therefore it would be unjust to impose the three-year minimum term.”

Woolridge was jailed for a further two years to be served after the current sentence.