TWO burglars who were caught red-handed leaving a Whitehaven home with their loot as the householder returned have been sentenced by a judge.
Cheryl Bragg had left her town address locked but partially insecure while staying with a friend. But on June 27, Miss Bragg learned there was someone in her house. The intruders were heavily-convicted duo Daniel James Bullock, 28, and 34-year-old Naomi Ann Nicholson, Carlisle Crown Court heard.
Miss Bragg returned home initially but, when unable to open the front door, went to get help from friends. “Upon her return she observed both defendants emerge from the front door of her property,” prosecutor Richard Bennett said.
Nicholson was carrying a television, and both she and Bullock had carrier bags containing make-up, toiletries, clothing and medication valued at £150.
Bullock and Nicholson initially fled but were found by police in a garden on the same street. Both admitted burglary, and Bullock, of no fixed abode, also admitted illegal knife possession.
Twice previously convicted of house burglaries, Bullock was jailed for a total of 904 days by Judge David Potter.
Nicholson, of Windermere Road, Whitehaven, who’d spent time in custody on remand – had an eight-month prison term suspended for 12 months. She must complete rehabilitation and a three-month night-time curfew, and was said to be genuinely sorry for a crime committed against someone she previously considered a “good and supportive friend”.
