TWO men smashed their way into a pensioner’s home and ransacked every room, making off with thousands of pounds worth of jewellery and expensive camera equipment.

Robert Fleetwood and Bryn Jones both pleaded guilty to burglary at the home of a 72-year-old, on May 5, when they appeared at Worcester Crown Court yesterday.

Fleetwood, aged 24, of Comer Road, Worcester, was sentenced to 18 months behind bars. Jones will be sentenced later.

Judge Robert Juckes QC said the ransacking of the house made it a “particularly stark” example of burglary.

“When you broke into his house, you didn’t just steal a lot of valuable property – valuable in the sense of what it was worth, but more importantly what it was worth to Mr Green,” he told Fleetwood.

“But, for reasons that are not clear, the house was ransacked so that what he returned to was the greatest possible shock.”

Fleetwood, who has been studying an NVQ in decorating at college, was also ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge.

Stephen Davies, prosecuting, told the court that the pair had broken in through a kitchen window, causing £200 damage.

They had gone through every room in the house, stealing more than £4,000 worth of camera equipment along with jewellery, including rings belonging to Mr Green’s mother, mother-in-law and wife, the court heard.

They were caught when Jones tried to sell some of the camera equipment to the London Camera Exchange, in Pump Street, Worcester, and a worker – having heard about the theft – called police.

The rings, Mr Davies said, have never been found.

Richard Hull, defending, said Fleetwood – who had been in trouble regularly until 2007 – had only taken part in the burglary due to financial difficulties, and said he realised how serious the crime was.

Jones, aged 29, of Trefoil Close, Worcester, was remanded in custody to be sentenced on August 30.

Judge Juckes warned him that as this was his third strike, he was “bound” to be given a custodial sentence.

 

‘It was an adrenaline rush’

WHEN Bryn Jones walked into the London Camera Exchange store in Worcester, little did he know he would walk out in police custody.
 

Jones was attempting to sell on camera equipment he took from the home of a 72-year-old Worcester man, along with his accomplice in the burglary, Robert Fleetwood.
 

But manager of the Pump Street store, Gareth Watson, had already been made aware of his crime.
 

“The police had emailed us a list of the stolen goods earlier that day,” he said. “As soon as I saw the lenses, they weren’t that common, I hopped out the back and checked the serial numbers.”
 

Once he was sure the equipment was that sought by police, the brave shop worker called police.
 

“I was hiding out of the way, out the back, as far as I could so that he didn’t hear me,” he said. “My colleague was keeping him occupied while I was on the phone. It was an adrenaline rush at times and he (Jones) began to get a bit twitchy towards the end and the police arrived in the nick of time.”