Peterborough burglar jailed after stealing trainers from neighbour’s flat

Philip Kelly, of Eastfield Road, Peterborough, sneaked into his neighbour’s flat at just before 9.30pm on 22 March.

The woman noticed something wasn’t right when she came home at 11am the following day and saw items, such as her duvet, pillows and make-up suitcase had been moved around the room.

She also saw her daughter’s Pandora bracelet had been stolen, together with three pairs of her own trainers from underneath her bed.

The woman checked her patio doors, which lead into a car park, and discovered someone had broken into her flat through the doors.

She asked security staff to check the building’s CCTV footage and, in the meantime, returned to her room where she was visited by Kelly, 37, and his girlfriend.

When she told Kelly someone had broken into her flat, he told her it was “well out of order”. The pair left and a short while later the woman spotted her trainers had been placed on a nearby window ledge.

Kelly confessed to stealing the items after the woman told him the CCTV was being checked.

The footage revealed Kelly visiting the flat and returning on screen with a carrier bag he did not have previously. Police also found CCTV showing Kelly hiding the stolen items in a nearby street.

Kelly pleaded guilty to burglary and theft at Peterborough Crown Court yesterday (22 April) and was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.

PC Lizzy Aspland, who investigated, said: “Kelly was sentenced and sent to prison for burglary in May last year, yet this case shows he clearly hasn’t learned his lesson. I am glad justice has been done and he is back behind bars.

“Burglary can have a devastating impact on victims, which is why tackling it is one of our priorities.”