Jail for burglar who escaped with thousands in victim's Jaguar XF

Justin Turner drove away from one of the Whitmore Reans addresses he targeted in the owner's £25,000 Jaguar XF, a judge was told.

The 36-year-old also took car keys, jewellery and cash from the property in the early hours of June 25 while the couple who lived there were asleep, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

But he drove into trouble when a police dog handler patrolling the streets of Bushbury saw the Jaguar being driven erratically soon after it had been taken but before the sleeping victim realised he had been burgled.

The officer spotted it again a couple of hours later parked in the Browning Crescent but police had still not been officially notified of the theft, said Miss Saleema Mahmood, prosecuting.

The owner then reported the Jaguar as stolen at around 6.30am after waking to discover his house had been broken into.

Police checked CCTV in the area where the policeman had earlier seen the parked car and found film of a suspect wearing a distinctive boiler suite walking from the vehicle to a nearby house.

They swooped on the address and found clothing which matched that seen on the security film footage. Scientific checks revealed it had traces of the DNA of Turner, who was arrested and released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Undeterred, the defendant struck again on September 26 after an acquaintance of his - 30-year-old Rachael Jones - bumped into a man she knew walking close to his home in Great Hampton Street, Whitmore Reans to a nearby pub.

She asked how long he intended to stay and when told he would be there until closing time she alerted Turner who raided the man's empty home, making off with an Audi A4 and personal possessions with a total value of almost £7,000.

The defendant was arrested the following day after being spotted at the wheel of the missing motor.

He had drink and drug problems and was depressed after the death of his mother, said Mr Oliver Woolhouse, defending.

Turner, of Willenhall Road, Wolverhampton admitted two burglaries and theft and was jailed by Judge Kristina Montgomery QC who told him: "You have a total disregard for the property and possessions of other people and believe you can take what you want, when you want."

Jones, of St Anne's Road, Fordhouses pleaded guilty to a single burglary and was jailed for two years.