Prison for Burnley serial burglar caught out by his DNA (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Prison for Burnley serial burglar caught out by his DNA

1:00pm Thursday 13th December 2012 in News

A ‘PROLIFIC’ burglar who raided a family home as the victims slept, and drove off in one of their cars, has been jailed for 33 months.

Drug addict Mark Butterworth, 34, who forced a kitchen window in the middle of the night, was caught out when he dropped his cap just outside where he broke in, leaving his DNA.

Butterworth, who was banned from driving, was pursued by police in the £3,000 Suzuki Grand Vitara vehicle, but got away, Burnley Crown Court was told.

Butterworth, a ‘three-strike burglar’, has such a long record that Judge Beverley Lunt said it would take her all day to read it.

She said the defendant had had every type of sentence going She said: “He’s a prolific burglar, a persistent taker of people’s vehicles, and a persistent disqualified driver.”

Butterworth, of Elgin Crescent, Burnley, had admitted burglary, taking a vehicle without consent, driving while disqualified, and driving without due care and attention, all on October 6. He asked for two offences to be considered.

Sarah Statham, prosecuting, said the victims, who lived in Chatburn, woke up to find their kitchen window had been forced open.

Only the kitchen had been entered, and a mobile telephone, and keys to two cars, a BMW X5 and the Suzuki Vitara, had been taken. The Suzuki, a recent gift, had gone.

Police were called and, within a couple of hours, officers in Burnley picked up the stolen vehicle in Colne Road. Two officers saw the defendant at the wheel, and recognised him.

They made it apparent they wanted him to stop, but he didn’t. He went over some grass and a pursuit, at slow speeds along residential terrace streets, followed.

Butterworth went down two ‘no entry’ roads, and through a junction without attempting to stop at the ‘give way’ signs. The vehicle was eventually seen to drive off at speed and it was later recovered.

Richard Taylor, for Butterworth, said he had had heroin problems. He had no idea where he was on the night of the off-ences.

Comments are closed on this article.