TWO burglars − including one who was identified from a tattoo on his neck – who broke into homes across Solihull have been handed jail sentences.
Adrian Griffiths walked into a home in Coralin Close, Chelmsley Wood, at 6.10am on January 24 before taking a purse and car keys.
He was disturbed by the homeowner and made off without the victim’s car.
Solihull police linked him to another home invasion in Larch Croft, Chelmsley Wood, minutes later where a man climbed through an open first floor window having clambered onto a porch roof.
Again the 41-year-old, from Kington Gardens in Chelmsley Wood, made off empty handed after disturbing a couple asleep inside the property − and he’d also tried prising open a door at a neighbouring home.
A police officers recognised Griffiths − who has previous convictions for burglary − and he was arrested in February.
CCTV showed him leaving and returning home around the time of the break-ins and clothing matching that worn by the offender was found during a search of his address.
He was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court and jailed for six years − the police recovered the lady’s purse from the roof of a neighbouring property.
Dean Thomas from Old College Road in Sheldon was jailed for 876 days.
The 57-year-old was caught on security cameras ducking into a staff room at The Pet Centre in Stratford Road, Shirley, on May 25. Nothing was stolen but the incident was reported to us and we seized CCTV showing the offender leaving in a silver Mercedes.
The same car was used to commit a burglary in Wood Lane, Earlswood, later in the day when an opportunist thief took advantage of a door left insecure to sneak inside and swipe a lap-top computer.
Thomas claimed police had the wrong man − but he hadn’t banked on officers having retrieved CCTV footage showing the offender with a distinctive tattoo on the side of his neck – an exact match to ‘body-art’ sported by Thomas.
The victim later emailed our investigating officer saying: “I am pleased to hear the result and thank-you to you and your team for your work on this to bring it to a conclusion.
“Myself, my family and our neighbours will rest easier now.”
