Jailed: Market Drayton burglar raided fire-hit luxury house

Wayne Taylor was identified when DNA tests on blood found inside the large detached house showed it was his.

Taylor, 44. of Websters Lane, Market Drayton, was jailed for two years and five months after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to the burglary.

Prosecutor Mr Ian Ball said the house in Tiddington Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, was “a large property set in grounds of about an acre, with Stratford Golf Club at the back”.

In November last year the owner and his mother, who is in her 90s, had been moved out while work was carried out to repair damage caused by a tumble dryer fire.

But when he went to check the property on November 7, he found a window had been smashed. Inside, an antique chair had been broken by the intruder. Two glass decanters with silver tops and a quantity of silver tableware, for which no value was given in court, had been stolen.

Drink

A scenes of crime officer found blood on the inside of a paperweight box in the dining room, and a DNA test linked it to Taylor. When he was arrested in December, he said he had been under the influence of drink at the time but had been under the impression that the house was empty.

Taylor, who had convictions for 61 offences and was a “third strike” burglar, added that he sold the property for £60 which he had spent on heroin and crack cocaine.

Mr Ian Speed, defending, said that not only had Taylor co-operated fully, he had surrendered himself.

“He realised it wasn’t occupied. He says it was pretty obvious the place was in disrepair. There was a skip,” he added.

Judge Anthony Potter told Taylor: “You live in Shropshire. It’s clear you had travelled to this area with dishonesty in mind.

“But I give you credit for the fact that you surrendered yourself, and you entered a guilty plea at the first opportunity.”