'You'd scare me to death': Judge jails 'stocky' burglar trapped by electronic jail tag he was wearing
A serial burglar who broke into a Telford house while he was on licence from prison was caught because he was still wearing his electronic tag.
Jailing him at Shrewsbury Crown Court, Judge Anthony Lowe told "stocky" drug addict Steven Duncan: "If I found you in my house it would scare me to death!"
Duncan, aged 50, stole an Arsenal football shirt from the house in Arundel Close, Randlay, thinking it was a jacket that might contain a wallet with cash.
He was seen in the back garden of the house by a young man who lived there with his grandmother. The occupant heard noises and saw a "stocky" man standing there, dressed in black with a mask covering his face.
Kevin Jones, prosecuting, told the court that Duncan fled the property, dumping the shirt on the driveway.
At the time of the incident, Duncan was out from prison on licence and was electronically tagged. It was the tag that placed him at the scene of the crime, and he was arrested by police.
Duncan, of Boulton Grange, Randlay, pleaded guilty to burglary. He had 14 previous convictions for 21 offences, including 10 convictions for burglary dating back to 1987.
Suzanne Francis, mitigating, said Duncan was a published author and had previously been a BBC-commissioned artist, but he has an addiction to crack cocaine which he finds "hard to resist" when he is depressed.
"He wants to say sorry," she said. "He has certainly shown genuine remorse to me."
Judge Anthony Lowe told Duncan: "You may not have had any intention to do anybody any harm, but if I found you in my house it would scare me to death! You're a big bloke. I may think 'I'd better hit you first', and who knows what would happen after that. Then who knows how you're going to react.
"I understand you meant nobody any harm, but you don't know what's going to happen. It terrifies people.
"I'm dealing with someone with a terrible record for dwelling house burglaries."
He jailed Duncan for two years and eight months.
"I hope whenever you are released you find a way (not to commit burglaries)," added Judge Lowe. "If you can't stop your addiction, please don't break into people's houses."
