Burglar 'thought he was in his own home' after being confronted by terrified Leeds home owner
A burglar confronted by a homeowner told him he thought he was in his own home.
Confused Dean Biddlecombe was found stood at the top of the stairs of the property in Beeston where a family had been asleep.
He was jailed at Leeds Crown Court after admitting burglary and attempted burglary.
The court heard that on October 28 a resident on Coupland Road, Beeston, received a Ring doorbell alert that picked up Biddlecombe walking down the woman’s driveway, down the side of her home and then scaled her fence into her garden during daylight hours.
Around 40 minutes later he was seen trying her front-door handle and was bizarrely shouting for “Barry” through her letterbox.
The owner arrived home later in the afternoon and found a jumper in her back garden, which was later found to contain Biddlecombe’s DNA.
Then in the early hours of the next day, he crept into a home on Waverley Garth in Beeston where a couple were sleeping, along with their five children.
Biddlecombe was found at the top of the stairs, when he said he was confused and thought it was his own home.
The family detained him until the police arrived and he was arrested.
Thr 36-year-old, of no fixed address, later told police he had taken a large amount of the prescription drug pregabalin and had had no idea why he had broken into the home.
He has 28 previous convictions for 44 offences and has since been recalled to prison for a previous crime.
Mitigating, Thomas Doyle said despite his extensive record, this was Biddlecombe’s first conviction for burglary.
He said: “He is genuinely sorry for what he did. He is ashamed of himself.”
Judge Kate Rayfield told Biddlecombe: “At your age it’s a little surprising to find yourself before the court for burglary - this is not your style.
“It must have been utterly frightening when the homeowner came across you at the top of the stairs.”
She jailed him for 20 months.