£3,000 Telford burglar given suspended sentence

Brett Compton, 39, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court after pleading guilty at a previous hearing to burgling the home of Daniel Hopley in Mercia Drive, Leegomery.

Judge Jim Tindal sentenced Compton to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, but warned him he would be sent to prison if he commits a further offence.

Mr Ian Ball, prosecuting, said Mr Hopley left for work at 7am on May 3, and on his return at about 5pm noticed items had been moved and the window forced open.

Mr Hopley said the loss of property totalled £3,200.94 in monetary value which included a laptop holding 15 years' worth of family photos.

In a victim impact statement he said since the break-in he had felt "on edge" and "anxious".

"I expected him to come back because he had the car and house keys," the statement said.

Mr Ball said: "He said what he's done has affected him and his children, and will do for far longer than it will him."

Mr Ball said Compton, of Corbett Close, Little Dawley, had two previous convictions for burglary of a dwelling, as well as nine convictions for 16 offences.

Last year he was jailed for 10 months for burglary.

Mr Paul Smith, defending, said his client's key mitigation was his guilty plea.

He said: "One can see in the offender's history, it has drug use written all over it."

Mr Smith said Compton had a long gap in his record of offending, as he had a family and a job but during the mid 2000s, he had been involved in a motorcycle accident, his family life broke down and he got involved in hard drugs use.

Sentencing him, Judge Tindal said: "I have to best prevent you doing this again but if you perform badly or offend again, you will be sent to prison."

Compton was also ordered to undertake a community sentence comprising a drug rehabilitation requirement for 12 months, a 25-day rehabilitation requirement and a 19-session programme requirement.