A PERSISTENT burglar who was touting for window cleaning business slipped back into his old ways when he found the door of a house unlocked.
Anthony Nicholson went inside and stole a pensioner’s handbag before using her bank card at two Rugby stores.
Nicholson, 58, of no fixed address, was jailed for two years and eight months after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to charges of burglary and fraud.
Prosecutor Madhu Rai said that in May a 72-year-old woman left the door of her Dunchurch home unlocked as she sat in the lounge.
But when she went to the kitchen, she found her handbag, containing £180 in cash, gift cards and her bank card, had gone from a hook by the door.
Meanwhile Nicholson had used her bank card twice at Sainsburys and once at a Co-op store to buy items worth a total of £72.39, said Miss Rai.
When he was arrested after voluntarily attending Rugby police station ten days later, Nicholson admitted being responsible.
He said he had cold-called at the house to ask if there was any window cleaning work, and ‘the door came open.’
Nicholson added that he was desperate for money, so had taken the handbag before going straight to the stores to use the card.
Miss Rai added that Nicholson had an extensive criminal record going back to 1971, with 44 convictions for more than 120 offences including 38 burglaries.
Andrew Molloy, defending, said: “The only real mitigation is his guilty plea. The fraud takes place immediately after the burglary, and is part and parcel of the offence.
“He had stayed out of trouble for four years, which is a very long time for someone like him.
“He was very proud of that. He got a job as a forklift truck driver, and he had his own accommodation and was able to purchase a car.
“But as a result of losing that job, through no fault of his own, he lost his accommodation and lost his car, and he was trying to build up work as a window cleaner.”
Judge Richard Griffith-Jones observed: “That’s not a good job for him, given his record.”
Mr Molloy added: “It was just desperation which drove him to offend again. He’s 58, and he doesn’t want to spend what time he has left in and out of prison.”
Jailing Nicholson, Judge Griffith-Jones told him: “You have reached a point in your life where, when you commit an offence of burglary, it is all the more serious because of your record.”
Nicholson interjected from the dock: “I tried very hard not to go back to those ways, I really did.”
The judge added: “I have got to tell you that burglary of someone’s home is a very serious offence, because it goes well beyond the money you take – it’s the peace of mind you take from people, particularly people who live alone.”
