9:10am Saturday 20th March 2010
A teenager who broke into two family homes in the same street as the occupants slept upstairs has been jailed for 15 months.
Jordan Porter and a 16-year-old pal sneaked into the houses and made off with electrical goods during the night time raids.
But after hearing that one of the victims was so upset after seeing the raiders downstairs she is moving away, a judge jailed the burglar.
Lynne Henderson, prosecuting, told Swindon crown court how the grandson of a former boxer committed the two offences on Monday June 8.
She said a family awoke on the Tuesday morning to find the house had been broken into with the door to the utility room left open and keys kept in the kitchen missing.
On the same night a woman living a few doors away on Montague Street, Rodbourne, was woken at about 4am by a noise in the house.
She called the police but by the time they arrived the raiders had fled taking electrical goods with them.
Officers kept watch on their hiding place and later Porter and his accomplice were arrested.
Porter, of the Angelique Guest House, County Road, pleaded guilty to two burglaries and possessing a small amount of cannabis.
Rob Ross, defending, said his client had no previous conviction and lives with his grandfather, a former professional boxer who does a lot of charity work.
Jailing him, Judge Charles Wade said “Burglaries at night while the occupiers are there are always treated by the court as extremely serious.
“I have heard statements of the victims of these burglaries. In both cases very significant psychiatric impact was caused to the occupiers including in one case causing them to move house.”
The younger boy, who comes from the Walcot area, admitted the two burglaries and will be dealt with by the youth court.
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