Wicked uncle stole from his own nieces

Peter Stead had been due to face trial this week on a charge of burglary but he changed his plea to guilty and will now face sentence by a judge on October 7.

The hearing was told that relatives had been left “sickened” by his callous crime.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that 29-year-old Stead was at his sister’s home in Devon Street, Leigh, on January 26 last year and she thought that he was acting strangely, possibly because of drugs.

They both left the house after locking it, but when she returned there that evening she discovered that a pane of glass had been smashed in the back door which was ajar.

Going inside she found that a combined television and DVD player plus an electronic tablet, worth a total of £600, had all been stolen from her daughters’ bedroom, prosecutor David Watson told the court.

The uncle was soon suspected of this vile betrayal of family trust, the hearing was told.

And Stead, of Blackpool Old Road, Blackpool, was arrested by police on December 19 in the seaside resort after being detained for being drunk and disorderly.

When interviewed by police officers he claimed that his sister had given him the items because she owed him some money.

He also maintained his innocence when the case first went to magistrates’ court before finally admitting to the crime on the eve of his trial.

The girls’ television, which he had sold to Cash Converters for £30, was later recovered by officers, but the tablet had never been traced, said Mr Watson.

In an impact statement read out in court, his sister - who the paper is not identifying - said: “It sickens me to know he stole from his little nieces.”

Stead was further remanded on bail to enable a probation report to be prepared before he is sentenced next month.

Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, the Recorder of Liverpool, warned Stead that the penalty for his crime could be as much as 10 months’ imprisonment.