A MOTHER-OF-THREE from Burnley had £10,000 of Asian gold jewellery stolen while she was away visiting family, a court heard.

Nazir Akhtar left her home in Waterbarn Street satisfied family members would be checking up on the property at regular intervals, Burnley Crown Court was told.

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But three days after she left, her family rang to say the terraced house had been ransacked and several items were missing.

Police scenes of crime officers were called in who found blood on a window which had been forced open to get in – a DNA check through police records later led to the arrest of Inam Ul Hassan Khan.

Khan, 19, of Roughlee Grove, Burnley, who admitted burglary after already being the subject of a suspended prison sentence, was jailed for 18 months. His only previous conviction was for assault.

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, said Mrs Akhtar locked up her home on February 16 to visit family out of the area after asking relatives to drop to keep a check on her home.

But by February 19 she had been contacted to say there had been a break-in.

She returned home to find that a window had been forced, and various items were missing from downstairs.

“The upstairs had been completely ransacked, in her words,” said Mr Parker.

“Property worth around £13,000 had been stolen. The valuation placed on the Asian gold jewellery was around £10,000 and there were various other electrical items, such as Play Station, X-Box 360 and Nintendo consoles, worth another £3,000 or so.”

The court heard that later a number of the electrical items were returned through a third party but the jewellery had never been recovered.

No indication was given over whether the valuables were insured but Mrs Akhtar told police that the burglary had left her shocked and upset.

Robert Elias, defending, said it was apparent that Khan had been working with an accomplice.

The court heard he would deny that he had been responsible for all of the missing property.