Burglar jailed for more than three years

A 49-year-old man has been jailed for more than three years for burglary and fraud offences.

On Friday 16 December, Anthony Paisley, of Trinity Road, Taunton, was sentenced to three years and 73 days in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of dwelling burglary and one of fraud.

He was caught on CCTV committing the offences and was subsequently arrested the following day.

Taunton Crown Court heard how Paisley broke into two properties in Taunton on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 October and stole items from inside.

Officers were called to a property near Kingston Road on Tuesday after Paisley broke into the home of a woman in her 70s, and stole her mobile phone.

Paisley then proceeded to break into the home of a man in his 80s near Priorswood Road in the early hours of Wednesday morning, stealing a wallet and a sum of cash from the victim’s bedside table while he was asleep.

Paisley then attempted to use one of the cards he had stolen from the second property.

Officer in the case, PC Jim Card, said: “These were particularly unpleasant burglaries given the fact the homeowners were at their properties at the time of the offences, and the victims are understandably very shaken by what happened.

“This was a joint effort between those working within our specialist burglary crime team and our patrol teams. Paisley was identified and arrested on Thursday 6 October, within days of the crimes being committed.

“Tackling burglary remains a high priority for the force and we hope this conviction will reassure the public.”