Burglar locked up for four years

A BURGLAR who broke into his neighbour’s flat twice in three days has been locked up for four years.

Luke Anderson stole a television on the first occasion, went back two days later and took a stack of CDs and DVDs, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Anderson, who had been living in a second- floor flat in Bath Road, Felixstowe, denied two offences of burglary, but was found guilty of both offences after a short trial. He was jailed for four years.

The court heard he had been living in the flat for about three weeks when he forced open the door of his neighbour Ian Howard’s flat and stole a 22-inch flatscreen TV on March 27.

Two days later, on March 29, he entered the flat again and this time stole DVDs and CDs.

Mr Howard returned from work on both days to find his flat had been entered, although he did not report the first break-in until after the second burglary had taken place.

Michael Crimp, prosecuting, said that on the day the television was stolen from Mr Howard’s fla,t police officers recovered it from the home of Anderson’s mother.

On March 30, officers searched Anderson’s flat and found three of the CDs that had been stolen during the burglary at Mr Howard’s flat the day before.

Giving evidence Anderson, 21, of Capel Drive, Felixstowe, admitted he had six previous convictions for dwelling house burglaries between 2007 and 2010.

He told the court that he had bought the television for �40 from someone he knew and had taken it round to his mother’s house and tried to sell it to her for �60.

He said that when he bought the television it had been in a rucksack and when he took the rucksack back to his flat he found the three CDs which had been found in his flat by police.

He denied breaking into his neighbour’s flat and said the communal door to the flats had often been left open during the day.