Mobile phone snap of burglar Lee Taylor leads to capture

Feb 26 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Recorder Peter Pimm was told that Taylor was still on licence from that sentence when he committed the burglary.

Last month Taylor, whose girlfriend is pregnant with their first child, admitted charges of burglary and aggravated vehicle taking.

Barrister Adam Birkby said his client had turned a corner in his life since last May and now realised he must do more to distance himself from his past.

He now had a job with a roofing company and he urged the judge to give him one final opportunity to prove himself by suspending any custodial sentence.

Mr Birkby submitted that the burglary was opportunistic and committed on a “whim” when the men were drunk.

He also pointed out that Taylor had only been a passenger in the Audi.

Recorder Pimm said he had the greatest sympathy with Taylor’s family because he had not learned his lesson and it was an aggravating feature of the case that he committed the offences while on licence.

“Those who burgle dwelling houses and steal car keys in order to steal the car must understand that these offences are taken very seriously by the courts,” said the judge.

“Burglaries of that sort are on the increase and it’s important that a message goes out to others who might be tempted to do what you have done that they will be taken very seriously.

“Not only did this family lose the items that you took and have the indignity of their house being entered by you, something which is often never got over by the victims, but the car recently purchased is lost to them.”