Christopher Hudson made a hamfisted attempt to explain away belongings missing from his mum's house - only to be caught in the act
A bungling thief stole from his mum’s home then “staged” a burglary to cover it up.
The hamfisted criminal was caught in the act by a neighbour and ended up in prison for his drug-fuelled crime spree.
Christopher Hudson, 35, was trusted by his mother and stepfather to look after their house while they were on holiday.
Prosecutor Sue Jacobs said he stole possessions worth £3,500 while staying there between June 2 and 20 last year.
He used his stepdad’s name to sell the stolen jewellery to second hand goods stores and take out a payday loan, Teesside Crown Court heard.
When the householders came home, they didn’t realise anything had gone missing.
Days after their return, Hudson burgled the home stealing a £300 laptop and causing damage, the court was told.
“It’s effectively a staged burglary,” said his barrister Duncan McReddie.
“The damage was caused as a pretty guileless and ineffectual way of trying to cover his tracks of the other items he’d taken while his parents were on holiday and he was coming and going with a key.”
A neighbour saw Hudson carrying a bag from the Stockton home on June 24.
The victims found that jewellery, a tablet computer and other items had disappeared.
When he was arrested, he denied the burglary but admitted pawning the goods without permission and said he intended to buy them back.
He said he spent the loan money on drugs.
He stole a hard drive from another home on the same Stockton street, as well as items from shops, last September.
Hudson, of Londonderry Road, Stockton, admitted burglary, nine counts of fraud, five of theft and one of attempted fraud, and he asked for seven more offences, also against his mother and stepfather, to be taken into account.
Mr McReddie said Hudson was in the grip of heroin addiction at the time and embarked on a “compressed” spate of offending to fund it.
After almost six months remanded in custody, he now appeared to be “an entirely different individual”.
He had reconciled with his parents who visited him in prison and sent him money.
Hudson, who also had a problem with depression, was on a methadone prescription to get him off heroin and had written a letter to the court.
Judge Peter Bowers told Hudson he abused his mother and stepfather’s trust then tried to cover up the thefts.
He added: “It seems to me that you are gradually coming to your senses and your letter appears to suggest that.
“I can’t overlook this,” he added, jailing Hudson for 18 months but saying he’d be out in about three months.
“You may have learned your lesson. When you come out, I trust that with support you’ll be able to go straight.”
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