By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 11:41, Saturday, 24 November 2012

A burglar who raided a house in west Cumbria was spotted riding away from the scene on a bike, with most of the loot in carrier bags.

And a short time later, after the victim had got a message to the man he guessed was responsible, the burglar came riding back again – still carrying the bags on the handlebars.

At Carlisle Crown Court, 37-year-old Gary Mitchell, of John Street, Maryport, was jailed for a year after pleading guilty to a charge of burglary.

The house he stole from was the one next to his sister Gemma’s in Jackson Road, Salterbeck, Workington. Some of the haul – including a 50in television which was too big for him to carry on his bike – was found under his sister’s bed.

Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told the court Mitchell struck at lunchtime on September 7 while the house owner, Peter Maguire, was in town with his wife and daughter.

They returned to find the kitchen window had been smashed and a large amount of the family’s possessions – including a laptop, jewellery and an Army uniform – had been taken.

Mr Maguire immediately suspected the people next door, Mr Rogerson said, so he contacted Gemma Mitchell, telling her he believed she had something to do with it.

She told him she knew nothing about it, Mr Rogerson said, but five minutes later Mr Maguire spotted Gary Mitchell riding off on his bike.

Mr Maguire chased the bike down the road but couldn’t keep up, so he returned to confront Gemma Mitchell.

Soon after she was seen making a phone call and her brother came back on the bike and returned some of the property he had taken, the court heard.

First published at 10:43, Saturday, 24 November 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk