‘I was urban exploring’ claimed burglar jailed for stealing copper pipes from renovated Shropshire house
Daniel Donovan was with another man when they broke into the property on July 16 this year
A burglar caught by a homeowner stealing copper pipes from a family home being renovated in Cleobury Mortimer has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Daniel Donovan, aged 31, of Shrawley Avenue, Kidderminster was with another man when he broke into the property on July 16 this year, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard on Tuesday.
Ms Alexa Carrier, prosecuting, told the court that the property was under renovation at the time and the homeowner had driven past only to become suspicious after he spotted a blue car on the drive at around 2pm.
Ms Carrier said the homeowner approached the property.
“He saw that a rear window was broken and there was water coming through the ceiling,” she said. “He then saw two people by the front window who then climbed through the window.”
She said the homeowner confronted the pair, who were carrying bolt cutters and a pair of pliers but the men drove off in the blue car.
After going inside, she said the homeowner found a pile of copper piping near the loft steps inside the property.
The court heard that Donovan was eventually tracked down by his DNA but under interview denied burglary claiming he had been “urban exploring”.
Mr Carrier told the court that Donovan, who had 16 previous convictions including eight for theft offences, had been slapped with a six-month suspended sentence for possession of a bladed article just a month before the burglary, which he eventually went on to plead guilty to at a court hearing in August.
Judge Deni Mathews said Donovan had a ”cavalier disregard” to his suspended sentence.
“When this offence was carried out on July 16 you had only just started a suspended sentence,” the judge said.
“You have for a long time been offending with a frequent feature of dishonesty,” he added.
He jailed Donovan for 30 months - 25 months for the burglary and a consecutive five month sentence for being in breach of his suspended sentence.
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