Sunderland burglar snared after blood found at scene

Wilson was jailed at Newcastle Crown Court.

Michael Wilson ransacked rooms and stole high value electrical items such as a laptop, Kindle and iPad, as well as personal property - including a fish tank - during the raid last March.

The 35-year-old was arrested because he left blood near a broken window he had smashed to get inside the house.

Forensic testing matched the blood found at the scene to his DNA profile.

Prosecutor Jonathan Devlin told Newcastle Crown Court: "Unhappily for the defendant he left his blood on the window sill at the point of entry.

"The house had been subjected to an untidy search, drawers were pulled out, clothes and other items thrown around the room."

The court heard none of the stolen property, which was taken during the 11 hours the householders were out, was returned to them.

Mr Devlin told the court it is unclear whether there were any fish in the tank at the time it was taken.

Wilson, of Belle Vue Crescent, Sunderland, who has 125 criminal convictions, admitted burglary.

Mr Recorder Miller jailed him for 12 months.

The judge told him: "The court, and indeed the public, take a very serious view toward those who break into people's homes.

"An Englishman's home is his castle.

"People greatly value the privacy of their own home, the fact they can keep their possessions most important to them there, in expectation they will be safe and will not be stolen.

"It is a violation of that right when someone such as you breaks into a property and steals precious items."

Paul Cross, mitigating, said Wilson had been struggling to cope and had bereavement issued after losing both his mother and father within a short space of time.

Mr Cross added: "He had enormous difficulty in coping with that."

The court alsoheard Wilson worked at the car manufacturing plant in Washington until December last year.