There wasn’t a fairytale ending for the ‘habitual burglar’ who has been sent to prison
Daniel Kelly has been jailed(Image: Humberside Police)
A family was left shocked when it wasn’t Cinderella who left a shoe behind in their kitchen – but a prolific burglar. They were disturbed from their sleep after crack cocaine addict Daniel Kelly initially targeted a neighbour’s shed but then entered the family’s kitchen and attempted to steal a bicycle, a court heard.
Kelly, 43, of Ilkeston Avenue, Goole, admitted an offence of burglary on March 24 this year. It was his 20th burglary and he had been sentenced four times previously as a “third-strike burglar”.
Jazmine Lee, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that a woman and her husband were asleep at their home in Goole where their son also lived. She was awoken by lights activated from a sensor on a security light.
The woman looked out of the window and recognised who it was trying to get into the neighbour’s shed. She shouted: “What are you doing?”
Kelly replied: “What are you doing, you sl*g?” Moments later, she heard her back door open and discovered Kelly in her kitchen.
He was about to take her son’s motocross cycle but he was stopped by the woman. He tried to grab a set of handlebars but he was again stopped.
The woman’s husband ejected him from the home. They heard a loud bang at the door as an item was lobbed at the back door. Kelly shouted: “Give me back my shoe.”
The woman discovered his shoe and also a screwdriver that Kelly had taken to the burglary. Police were alerted and they later discovered Kelly slumped in a neighbouring street.
He was taken to hospital and was later arrested. The woman remained anxious about possible repercussions from the incident and she was nervous at any sound in the home.
Kelly had convictions for 106 previous offences. These included a total of 75 for dishonesty matters.
Benjamin Donnell, mitigating, said that Kelly had been addicted to crack cocaine for many years. He was funding his addiction by committing crime.
On the day of the latest offence, Kelly had taken a number of tablets, believing them to be sleeping tablets – but they were illegal substances. He was “apologetic towards the complainant.”
Judge Gurdial Singh told Kelly: “You are a habitual burglar and don’t seem to have learned your lesson. When you want drugs, you commit burglaries. “You don’t think about others and enter their properties and try to steal something. The fact that you are addicted to drugs is a tragedy.”
Kelly was jailed for three years and nine months.
Did you know you can make Hull Live a preferred source of Hull news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here.