Prolific thief jailed over raids on homes

A burglar who broke into a pensioner's house after being released on bail for another attempted raid has been jailed for almost three years.

Prolific thief Lee Turbutt, aged 37 and from Wednesbury, also walked into the bedroom of another victim while he slept, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

In the first raid last November, the father-of-two broke into the home of a 21-year-old man who was woken from an afternoon nap by the sound of a bathroom fan being turned on.

Turbutt then walked into the man's bedroom at the house in Longcroft Avenue, Wednesbury, and switched the light on.

The victim, who a judge said faced a "terrifying prospect", phoned police and Turbutt fled, taking with him a TV, CDs, and games console which he then dumped in a bin.

A rucksack was found nearby with CDs and a games controller, a hat and gloves inside, which had Turbutt's DNA on it.

In January this year, a father living in John Fletcher Close, Wednesbury, returned home to find that £1,000 of damage had been done when a shovel was used to force the lock on his conservatory.

Police had been called by residents who spotted Turbutt acting suspiciously and he was arrested with a torch and plastic gloves at the scene of the attempted break-in on January 22.

Turbutt, who had not yet been scientifically linked to the first burglary, was charged and released on bail by magistrates — only to break into the home of a 67-year-old woman on Haywood's Farm, West Bromwich, less than a month later.

He smashed a rear window but was spotted with a computer screen under his arm by two police community support officers near the woman's house on February 13.

Turbutt, of Wood Green Road, Wednesbury, fled but was caught nearby with jewellery belonging to the pensioner.

Turbutt, who has a number of previous convictions for burglary, admitted two break-ins and an attempted burglary.

Jailing him for 33 months, Judge Martin Walsh told him: "Any burglary of a house causes considerable distress and unease in the minds of the victims. They create a sense of violation."