Jailed: Murderer's son stole Christmas presents and knickers in Shrewsbury raid

Robert Ligus, aged 42, ransacked the home in Morris Hall, Bellstone, leaving a trail of destruction and blood on the walls. He also stole a pair of knickers belonging to a female victim of the raid on December 23 last year.

Other items he took included three laptops, a tablet, a Nintendo DS, a Google Dot, bed linen and a gold bracelet as well as other jewellery. His haul was worth up to £2,800.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that the family living in the flat had gone out for around four hours, and while they were gone, Ligus struck. A window had been forced open and other windows had been cracked. There was smashed glass and "items scattered all over the place", prosecutor Dean Easthope told the court.

A post on social media from one of the victims helped locate some of the items, and identify Ligus as the culprit.

Ligus was caught under peculiar circumstances. Paramedics were called to Wolverhampton Railway Station on January 7, where it was reported that Ligus was having a cardiac arrest on the platform. He was seen by medics, and his condition improved.

However, he was spotted with an "expensive looking" red laptop. Police asked him if it was his, if he could log into it and what he used it for. It was soon determined that Ligus had stolen the item, and he was arrested.

Ligus, of Hawkestone Road, Harlescott, Shrewsbury, pleaded guilty to burglary.

His father, Robin Stanislaw Ligus, was previously detained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital after committing three murders in Shropshire. He killed 75-year-old Robert Young in a house burglary in Shrewsbury in 1994. In 2011 he was also convicted of murdering Trevor Bradley, 53, and Brian Coles, 57, also in 1994.

Kevin Jones, defending, said Ligus had young children of his own, and that he didn't want them growing up with an absent father like he had.

Ligus has 60 convictions for 109 offences between 1995 and 2017, including 14 non-dwelling burglaries and one of burgling a home, for which he served a jail term.

Judge Anthony Lowe sentenced Ligus to 16 months in prison. He told him: "You don't need me to tell you that breaking into people's houses is a serious matter. That would not have made for a great Christmas for the family. This is too serious for me to suspend the sentence."

Ligus will be released on licence halfway through his sentence and, having already served around four months, should be freed in October.