Burglar's £60 a day drugs habit

A drug addict who has carried out his sixth house burglary has been jailed for three years and four months.
Burglar Stephen WestBurglar Stephen West
Burglar Stephen West

A judge said that Stephen West “has a shocking record, particularly for dishonesty” and added “you are showing no signs of learning from your mistakes.”

Judge Anil Murray warned 30-year-old West, who had been spending £60 a day on his drug habit, that if he “keeps his behaviour up sentences will get longer and longer.”

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West, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two burglaries in Leigh and because of his record faced a minimum term of three years. He has 46 convictions for 75 offences.

Paul Treble, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that he burgled a flat in Waterside Court, Ellesmere Street, on March 6 this year while the occupant was out.

He returned to find £290 worth of property including a Samsung tablet had been stolen

On the morning of April 9 a woman left her semi-detached home in Wigan Road secure but was called by police two hours later to say she had been burgled.

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West had smashed a window with a crowbar to break in but nothing had been stolen presumably because the burglar alarm went off.

His blood was found on the broken window and DNA analysis led to West being identified as the culprit.

When arrested he admitted the offences and said he had been spending up to £60 a day on crack cocaine.

David Polglase, defending, said that West realised if he does not resolve his drug problem he will go on offending and receive ever longer prison sentences.

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