Judge 'takes a chance' on Colne burglar (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Judge 'takes a chance' on Colne burglar

10:00pm Monday 15th October 2012 in News

A TEENAGER who raided a family home in the night kept her freedom after a judge stated: “There is more to this than meets the eye.”

Burnley Crown Court was told how Chelsea Driver had never been in trouble before the attack on the house on Priory Way, where children were in bed.

The victims were not disturbed, but woke to find a handbag had been taken from downstairs as they slept.

The defendant was arrested after several names were mentioned to the householder and were passed to police.

Driver made full admissions when questioned, claiming that she committed the burglary after she had been drinking. She had been walking along the street and found the door unlocked.

She said she had sold some of the property to ‘two well-known names in the area’ and accepted she had been stupid. None of the property had been recovered.

Mark Stuart, defending Driver, who appeared in the dock the day before her 19th birthday, said she had been in a destructive relationship and it had now ended.

Judge Beverley Lunt told the defendant burglary was an ‘evil, evil crime’ which had repercussions for years for victims but added: “I will take a chance on you.”

The defendant, of Hawley Street, Colne, had admitted burglary and had been committed for sentence by magistrates. She was given 52 weeks in detention, suspended for two years, with 80 hours’ unpaid work.