A man in the throes of a cocaine and alcohol addiction broke into his elderly neighbour’s home and stole sentimental items belonging to her late husband before trying to hide from police under some floorboards.
David Haley waited for his neighbour to go on her morning dog walk before taking a brick to her kitchen window, climbing in, and stealing wine, candles, jewellery, and cash belonging to her three grandchildren, Preston Crown Court heard.
Prosecuting, Eleanor Watson said the victim was a 76-year-old woman who lived alone in her home on Barkerhouse Road in Nelson with her dog.
She told the court: “On January 6, the lady left to take her dog for a walk at around 7.30am. Before she left she checked all the doors were locked, and she was out for around an hour.
“When she returned she noticed her late husband’s walking stick had been moved from the spot it had sat in since he died and she then discovered her home had been broken into and items taken.”
Ms Watson said CCTV from the surrounding areas was accessed and showed the defendant leaving his home around 7.36am, climbing over the wall of his property on Larch Street and making his way into the alley.
Haley is seen heading towards Castle Street and at 7.40am crosses Barkerhouse Road towards the victim’s address, and then walks down Vincent Street.
At 7.45am the defendant is seen at the rear of the woman’s property where he stays for around five minutes before smashing her window with a brick and running back towards Castle Street.
At 7.52am he’s seen walking back towards Barkerhouse Road as if doing a round route and returns to the victim’s address and enters the property through the broken window.
Ms Watson went on: “He is seen leaving the house via the back door at 8.18am with two bags and a yellow cardboard box, and is seen locking the door behind him, before returning to Larch Street and leaving the stolen items in his yard.”
Upon returning home, the victim noticed her husband’s walking stick had been moved and then discovered some candles and some wine were missing, which were presents she’d received for Christmas.
Ms Watson said: “Thinking by this point that someone must have been in her house she went to the kitchen and saw her window had been smashed so decided to call the police.”
Items taken from the victim, included:
- Five candles
- One bottle of wine
- Three money boxes containing £45 each
- Three keys from the kitchen for the back door and garage door
- 40 packets of pedigree dog food
- A charm bracelet
- Two pendants
- A silver chain
- A silver bangle
- Gold bracelet
- Pearl necklace
- A locket
- Three other bracelets
- A leather cufflink box containing her late husband’s cufflinks
- A blue Nivea gift set
- Keys for the bathroom window
The victim, in a personal statement, said some of the items were irreplaceable and were sentimental in value. She also said she’d been scared since to leave her home, had needed to get the locks changed and barely left the house to go outside.
Ms Watson said she’d gone from being an “independent woman” to one who didn’t want to leave her home unattended.
Police went to Larch Street and found the defendant hiding under the floor boards under the stairs. He was arrested and charged and entered guilty pleas to burglary on the day of his trial.
Haley, 24, now of Belgrave Street, Nelson, has 11 convictions for 24 offences, and was already under a suspended sentence order at the time these offences were committed.
Defending, Eleanor Mitten said her client had been in the throes of a cocaine and alcohol addiction and was very sorry for his actions.
She said: “He is remorseful and understands now the impact his offending has had.”
Haley will be sentenced on Friday.
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