[A] PROLIFIC burglar who broke into a couple’s Whitehaven home – and struck again at the property two days later – has been jailed.
Allan Dryden, 32, gained access to the unoccupied property in the early hours of January 11 – while the home owners were on holiday – and snatched possessions. But when drug user Dryden made a second criminal visit, on the morning of January 13, the couple had returned and the sleeping male occupant was woken by a noise.
Dryden fled with a quality of £2 coins which had been stored in jars. But he was caught on CCTV the couple had installed at their address, and also left palm prints on an upstairs window.
At Carlisle Crown Court today (MON), Dryden was jailed for 42 months after admitting two burglary charges. It was the third time he had triggered a three-year minimum sentence for repeat break-ins. His crimes were said to have left his latest victims feeling “horrible” and considering a house move.
Judge Barbara Forrester told Dryden, of Lakeland Avenue, Whitehaven: “By going in, it is not just what you have taken; it is the fact that somebody has been in the house.”
