Burglar rummaged through dead baby's memory box
Northumbria PoliceA burglar who rummaged through a memory box for a dead baby after breaking into his neighbours' home while they were on holiday has been jailed for 19 months.
Josh Wilkinson, 23, removed a window pane to get into a house in Hetton-le-Hole, Sunderland, searched through private possessions and stole a games console in October, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The family said they instantly knew who the culprit was and had been left scared and anxious in their own home.
Wilkinson, who already had 71 offences on his criminal record, admitted burglary.
The family-of-five went for a week-long holiday, leaving their house locked and secure, prosecutor Samantha Brown said.
When they returned on 28 October, they found various rooms had been searched and ornaments along their kitchen window sill had been broken, including one which cost £200, the court heard.
It appeared a pane of glass from the kitchen window had been removed and then replaced, the court heard.
'Deeply upsetting and disrespectful'
A cabinet of sentimental items in the living room had been opened and a memory box for their son, who had died aged 16 weeks, had been searched, the court heard.
A blanket in the parents' bedroom had been ruffled suggesting someone had been lying on their bed and a £200 games console was missing, the court heard.
The family instantly suspected Wilkinson, who lived nearby and had seen them leaving for their holiday, Brown said.
Police went to his home and found him hiding under his bed, the court heard.
In a statement read to the court, the mother of the family said they were "extremely scared" someone had been in the house and she had to check under the beds every night to convince her children there were no intruders.
She said she no longer felt safe alone in the house and the searching of their son's memory box had been particularly distressing.
Recorder Andrew Walker said Wilkinson's actions had been "deeply upsetting", unsettling and "extremely disrespectful".