Wisbech burglar confronted wearing stolen clothes
He's avoided jail
A bungling burglar who targeted a flat in Wisbech was later confronted by the victim while wearing his stolen clothes.
Jeffery Burton, from South Brink, visited a block of flats on Oil Mill Lane just before 1am on 19 March last year.
The 46-year-old gained entry to the flat through an open door and stole clothes, two bank cards, a bed throw, a Playstation 3 console and controller, mini DVD player, mini speaker, sound bar and 10 Playstation games.
The victim noticed his items were missing roughly four hours later, at 5am, after returning home from a night out.
Four days later, on 23 March, the victim viewed the building’s internal area CCTV and recognised the man though only knew him as ‘Jeff’, who was homeless at the time.
He decided to try and track down Burton, together with his friend, and found him a short while later wearing a jacket and jumper that belonged to him.
The victim approached Burton and asked him what he was doing wearing his clothes. Burton claimed he had found the clothes in a bin and would take the victim to the bin to show him.
When the man told Burton he would be going to the police station, Burton took off the stolen clothes and fled on foot.
He was chased but the man lost him and a search of the area was carried out by police but to no avail.
Burton was identified by a police officer from the CCTV footage and was arrested on 3 April on suspicion of burglary.
In police interview he denied any knowledge of the incident and denied being involved.
However, he pleaded guilty to the offence at Cambridge Crown Court on 12 March.
DI Shish Thind said:
“I’d like to praise the bravery of the victim in this case who tracked down Burton, confronted him and called us.
“Burglary can have a devastating impact on victims, whether businesses or homeowners, which is why tackling it is one of our priorities. We are working hard every day to bring offenders before the courts."
Burton was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court today (30 July), where he was handed 14 months in prison, suspended for two years.