A burglar invaded a woman’s flat just a day after she moved in to seek refuge from a troubled relationship.
The woman’s flat in central Middlesbrough was burgled while she stayed with friends.
“It was a flat belonging to a young woman who had moved there to avoid trouble in a relationship she was having already,” said a judge, Recorder Michael Slater.
He told the burglar Jamie Lee Taylor: “She went to that place for peace and quiet and was there a matter of a day or so before you burgled it.
“As a result of that, understandably, she felt really distressed.”
Taylor, 26, was seen climbing through an insecure window at the ground-floor flat at about 12.30am on February 1.
He stole household goods, toiletries, clothing including the woman’s underwear and a DVD player. She returned home to find her belongings missing.
Taylor, of Bridge Street West, central Middlesbrough, was identified from CCTV footage leaving the property.
The stolen possessions were found in his home and he admitted the burglary - his fourth, putting him in line for a minimum “three strikes” sentence of three years.
The crime flouted two suspended sentences and a community order.
He had 45 previous offences on his record including numerous robberies in his teens, theft, handling stolen goods, possession of a blade, assault and breaching a non-molestation order.
Peter Wishlade, defending, said Taylor had smoked a legal high called “mamba”, which causes memory loss, at the time of the burglary.
He said Taylor was with a girl who has not been caught.
Giving Taylor credit for a guilty plea at the first opportunity, Recorder Slater told him: “The least sentence I can pass upon you is 876 days. That’s laid down by Parliament.”
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