Burglar put bamboo cane through letter box to steal keys to £45,000 BMW at house in Leeds

Ashley Cookson carried out the offence in the early hours of the morning as the home owners were asleep in bed at the house on West Park Avenue, Roundhay.

A court heard Cookson and an accomplice then drove off in the vehicle after the raid on February 14 this year.

Cookson was arrested after police recognised the career criminal from CCTV footage of him watching the property the night before committing the offence.

Leeds Crown Court heard Cookson and the other man approached the house with a bamboo cane with a hook on the end of it.

It was then pushed through the letter box to hook the keys to a BMW worth £45,000 parked outside.

The pair then drove off in the vehicle.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said the BMW was fitted with a tracking device and was later recovered by police.

Cookson, of Dunlop Avenue, Farnley, was arrested 12 days later after being recognised by police officers.

He refused to comment in interview but entered guilty pleas to burglary and theft.

Mr Sharp said Cookson had served prison sentences totalling more than nine years.

Adrian Pollard, prosecuting, said Cookson pleaded guilty to the offences at an early stage.

Mr Pollard said Cookson had been living a settled life before the offences and had become a father.

He added: "He doesn't understand why he got involved and why he did it."

Cookson was jailed for four years.

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said: "This was clearly a planned offence. You had visited the property the night before.

"When you did it you were with another and you were equipped for burglary."

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