A serial burglar has been jailed for four years after the victim arrived home to find him in her Almondbury home.
Leeds Crown Court heard the occupant was doing some renovations at the address in Fleminghouse Lane, Almondbury but had gone out for a short time on August 5 last year.
As she returned she saw a ground floor window was wide open and a bike and a bag had been placed on the driveway outside.
Joanne Shepherd, prosecuting, said as she stopped the car the woman suddenly saw a man’s head pop up at the window and immediately duck back down on seeing her.
She realised a burglar was inside and dialled 999. She was told to stay in her car until officers arrived but saw a figure disappearing near the garage at the back, which turned out to be the intruder Stephen Eastham getting away.
Inside the property she found two panes of glass broken and a brick in the hallway the burglar had got away with around £2,000 worth of jewellery but not the bag containing tools and the bike which had been put outside ready to steal.
Miss Shepherd said Eastham subsequently took the jewellery to Cash Converters in Huddersfield town centre and sold it from where most of it was later recovered.
At that time he was also facing fraud offences where he had used false identities to try and collect packages containing mobile phones from mail depots, first in Dartford on November 7, 2014 and then at Rotherham on November 18 that year.
He was arrested in Rotherham because staff recognised a photograph circulated after the first incident.
Glenn Parsons representing him said he had been put up to the fraud offences by others as a way of paying off debts. At that time he was a drug addict spending around £100 a day on his habit but was now clean having spent time on remand.
Eastham, 36 of Eastlands, Almondbury admitted the burglary and fraud was jailed for a total of four years.
Judge Tom Bayliss QC said he was clearly a “habitual burglar” since it was his ninth appearance for such offences and the fourth conviction for a minimum sentence.
