Snooping Leeds burglar confronted by startled woman as he rifled through coat
A burglar who spent an evening wandering between buildings on a Leeds street was caught by an employee as he rifled through her belongings.
Leslie Ramsey admitted at Leeds Crown Court two counts of burglary and one of an attempted dwelling burglary.
The 49-year-old was jailed for more than two years.
He was on Globe Road near Leeds city centre in the early hours of January 15, forcing open a communal door to an apartment complex, then an internal door.
He was captured on CCTV. He then left and gained access to the bin store, snooping around before heading back inside.
Ramsey then tried to forced entry to one of the flats, but the occupant was inside, woke up and confronted him.
Ramsey fled but remained undeterred and forced entry to the nearby Globe Point building. He left but returned an hour later.
He tried to get into the bike store and the main office searching for items to steal.
Again he left, but returned at 7.45am, by which time member of staff had arrived, prosecutor Tonicha Allen told the court.
The employee had left her bag and coat in an office and found him going through her coat pockets.
Nothing was taken and she bravely told him to leave. She took a photo of him as he did which she later gave to police.
Ramsey, of Rider Road, Woodhouse, has 41 previous convictions for 118 offences dating back to 1992. He has 75 thefts to his name.
He was already on a suspended sentence from November 14 last year, in which he got four months suspended for 12 months for a non-dwelling burglary.
Ramsey appeared in court over a video link from HMP Leeds where he was being held on remand.
Mitigating, James Littlehales said Ramsey had “no memory of the incident at all” but was shown the CCTV footage.
He said Ramsey, who is from Newcastle and is a drug addict, had moved to West Yorkshire because of threats.
He added: “He appreciates a custodial sentence is inevitable given his record.”
The judge, Recorder Mark McKone KC gave him a 28-month jail sentence, and activated all four months of his suspended sentence, making a n overall 32-month sentence.