Nephew burgled aunty’s Leeds home twice in a night

William Clegg took almost £1,000 worth of items in the two raids at the property on North Way, Roundhay.

The 21-year-old admitted both counts at Leeds Crown Court heard this week, but only after he initially pleaded not guilty claiming it was a case of mistaken identity.

Clegg went to the woman’s address with his brother at 3am on July 4, 2020 and woke her up, asking if he could use the toilet.

While upstairs, he went in to a child’s bedroom, emptied a bag and filled it with a £300 Playstation and a VR headset worth £195, before leaving and getting in a taxi.

After his aunty realised what had happened, she was shaken and went with her child to stay at her mother’s home.

While there she received a call from Clegg saying he would return the items and asked where she was.

When she told him she was at her mother’s, Clegg then took a taxi back to her house, kicked the back gate open and smashed the glass panel to the back door to gain entry again.

He then took a TV that was still in its box and worth £500.

CCTV from a neighbour’s address showed Clegg arriving in taxi, then getting out before returning minutes later with the TV.

Muddy footprints at the scene also matched his shoes.

The court was told he has four convictions for 14 offences, including thefts and two robberies, for which he is now in jail and is not expected to be freed until February next year.

Little mitigation for the burglary offences was offered by his barrister Nicholas Hammond, who pointed to Clegg only being 19 at the time of the break-ins.

Judge Neil Clark told Clegg, of Bradford Road, Cleckheaton: “They were mean offences committed against a member of your own family.”

He told him that the 30-month jail term will run consecutively to his existing sentence, meaning he will not start the latest sentence until at least February, 2023.