Horrified holidaying residents watched their own Leeds home being burgled on CCTV
CCTV triggered alert on their phones
A couple watched in horror as their home was ransacked while they were away on holiday.
The pair received an alert that showed them career burglar Scott Wright and an accomplice smashed their way into the Adel house.
Wright was jailed at Leeds Crown Court after admitting the burglary and attempting to break into another home on the same night.
At around 3am on July 7, the pair were caught on CCTV outside the first Adel property. Wright tried the door handle while the second male kept look out.
The occupant was upstairs asleep but luckily the would-be burglars failed to get inside.
Around an hour later, they broke into the second home, which alerted the occupiers, who called the police.
Officers arrived and caught the pair still inside. They tried to barricade themselves into a bedroom but were quickly arrested.
Wright was carrying two sets of car keys, a torch, balaclava and tools.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the homeowners said they were left shaken by what they saw and felt powerless.
Having lived at the property for 26 years they were now considering selling up.
Wright, 46, gave a no-comment interview and later admitted burglary and attempted burglary. He has 30 previous convictions for 60 offences, including 13 dwelling burglaries.
Wright, of Hawkswood Crescent, Kirkstall, appeared in court over a videolink from HMP Leeds where he was being held on remand.
Mitigating, James Holding said Wright had broken up with his girlfriend and “fell into old habits” of taking crack cocaine.
He said: “He is very frank and accepts he knows he will keep spending longer and longer in prison.
“In his own words, he is ‘done with it now’.”
The judge, the Recorder of Leeds, Guy Kearl KC, told Wright that he “knew the consequences” of his actions.
He jailed him for three years.
Wright’s accomplice will be sentenced at a later date.