Burglar addicted to drugs since age of 11 broke into house and stole car
Brian McCann, 41, and an accomplice broke into a car parked in a street in Bridgend and took an envelope which contained a key. They then went to a nearby property where several items were taken including a Mercedes which was driven away by the burglars.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard the car was parked in a nearby street and the defendant and the other man returned three hours later to see if it was still there. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter.
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Prosecutor Tabitha Walker said a woman returned to her home at 3.45am and realised the Mercedes car was missing.
She found her front door was unlocked and open and when she went into the house she noticed several items had been thrown into the front garden.
Her husband came down the stairs and asked him where the Mercedes had gone but he was confused.
She looked at a shelf and noticed the keys to the Mercedes had been taken as well as keys to a BMW and house keys.
The police were called and the victims' son realised his school bag, which contained his Apple AirPods, had been taken.
Using a feature on the AirPods police were able to track the item to an address in Coity Road.
At 9.30am the owner of the car that was broken into saw items inside the vehicle had been moved and saw the envelope in next door's front garden but the key was missing.
The defendant was identified from CCTV footage and he was arrested at his home.
McCann, of Tremgarth, Wildmill, later pleaded guilty to burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, and theft from a motor vehicle.
The court heard he has 48 previous convictions for 92 offences including offences of burglary.
In a victim personal statement read by Ms Walker the victim of the house burglary said: "Nothing is the same anymore.
"I feel unsafe in my own home, especially with my son, and I'm scared to leave him on his own. My son has been crying a lot and wants to move to a different home...
"I feel unsafe. I've never had anything like this happen to me before and I thought my home was a safe place but I no longer feel this way.
"I have to keep the lights on all night... I'm worried someone will come back to my home and take my vehicles. I am disgusted someone has done this to me in my own home."
In mitigation Abigail Jackson said her client has health issues and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The barrister said the defendant had been addicted to drugs since he was 11 years old and he had been involved in crime for the majority of his life.
Ms Jackson said her client had become sober from drugs and alcohol in 2015 but relapsed after he discovered his best friend had taken his own life.
Judge Simon Mills sentenced McCann to a total of three years imprisonment.
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