Two “third-strike” burglars have been jailed after a court heard details of a spate of offences against homes in Brighouse.
Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC locked up 33-year-old Christopher Broadbent and 40-year-old Roy Ambler after hearing details about their offending spree last autumn.
The pair attacked a large detached family home in The Spinney during the early hours of the night last November, but when the householder shouted at them they fled the scene.
Prosecutor Jayne Beckett said a police officer was able to identify Ambler from a CCTV recording and Broadbent was also linked to the burglary because of his distinctive clothing.
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Ambler, of Whinney Hill Court, Brighouse, also tried to burgle another home in the same area, but during that raid he left a hat behind in the garden which was linked to him by forensic tests.
Last October Broadbent, of Whinney Hill Park, Brighouse stole two bottles of whisky from the Tesco store on Huddersfield Road, Brighouse, and when he was pursued by a male security guard he produced a knife blade and managed to escape.
Bradford Crown Court heard how Broadbent then went on to burgle a flat in Whinney Hill Park while the owner was out and got away with property worth an estimated £1600.
Miss Beckett revealed that Broadbent was arrested after the victim of the burglary had made his own enquiries in the area and some of the stolen property was recovered from his address.
She submitted that the attack on the flat had involved some “ransacking” of the bedroom at the property.
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Broadbent, who had previous convictions dating back to the mid 1990s admitted offences of burglary, theft, possessing a bladed article, common assault and handling stolen goods.
Ambler, whose previous offending went back as far as 1990, pleaded guilty to burglary and an attempted burglary.
Judge Durham Hall heard that both men had previous convictions for house burglary which meant they qualified for the minimum prison sentence of three years under the “three strikes” legislation.
After taking account of each defendant’s guilty pleas to the charges the judge said he had to reduce the three-year terms by a fifth which meant that each man was jailed for 876 days.
