A BURGLAR who raided three Droitwich homes was caught after he left muddy footprints and his DNA on some garden shears.

Bungling Scott Parton was jailed at Worcester Crown Court on Monday after admitting the burglaries during which he stole precious jewellery of sentimental value and cash from three houses in Droitwich.

One of his victims, a 63-year-old woman, had £13,500 of jewellery stolen. Another female victim said in her victim impact statement she felt unsafe in her home.

The 34-year-old, who appeared via video-link from prison, raided a home in Yew Tree Hill on April 20 and two in Clydesdale Road on April 26 while the occupants were out.

Lal Amarasinghe, prosecuting, said the first burglary at Yew Tree Hill happened while the occupant of the three-bedroom detached house was out for just 20 minutes.

He said: “She returned to find muddy footprints on the stairs.”

She also found broken glass where he had entered via the kitchen window.

An untidy search of the house had been carried out. Drawers were open in the dining room, living room and bedroom.

Garden shears had been removed from a shed and were found on the floor next to the window.

In total £800 cash and £1,000 of jewellery, which had belonged to her late parents, were missing.

Police obtained a DNA sample from the shears and matched it to the defendant.

An impression left by the defendant’s Nike Huarache trainers was also obtained.

Six days later he carried out raids on two houses opposite each other in Clydesdale Road, Droitwich.

The raid on a four-bedroom home belonged to a couple who had lived there for 31 years. They returned home to find the patio doors had been smashed using a large stone from the back garden.

Mr Amarasinghe said: “She described her bedroom as being ransacked and £13,500 of jewellery had been stolen.”

Again police were able to obtain impressions from Parton’s Nike trainers.

The third burglary also involved a rear window being smashed with a rock and an untidy search.

A signet ring and an engraved pocket watch were stolen.

The watch was a family heirloom which had belonged to the burgled man’s grandfather.

Police arrested Parton at his home in King Street, Walsall, and he gave a no comment interview.

Parton has 28 court appearances for 65 offences including burglary, attempted burglary and conspiracy to burgle.

“He accepts, I’m sure, his appalling antecedent history for similar matters of burglary.

"The complainants have worked hard and had property taken which is irreplaceable.

"The affect on these people and on their lives, citizens that have worked hard, some retired, some not, has been great” said Mr Amarasinghe.

Charles Crinion, defending, asked that Parton be given full credit for his early guilty plea but acknowledged this was his third strike for burglary, meaning he must receive a minimum sentence of three years.

He said: “They are unsophisticated offences.”

However, he accepted that his client had travelled from Walsall specifically to commit the burglaries and was on licence at the time.

He stressed there was no stealing to order and he had no equipment with him, using instead items he found in the gardens to break in.

"There was a drugs problem in the past and he had built up debts because of that. He came out of custody and those debts were still there. The people he owed money to were demanding repayment and this is the only way he thought he could get the money.”

Judge Nicolas Cartwright said one of the victims 'unsurprisingly felt unsafe in her home' and said the offences were aggravated by the 'significant sentimental value' and financial value of the stolen items.

He viewed it as a 'category one offence' and said it was further aggravated by Parton's relevant previous convictions.

Judge Cartwright jailed him for 44 months for each burglary but the sentences will be served concurrently.