By james art The student left her flat door closed but unlocked as she went out to buy a takeaway in Durham on Saturday, October 21 last year.
As she left her apartment down an alley off Saddler Street, she noticed two men who appeared to be intoxicated.
Durham Crown Court was told that when she returned, a short time later, the door she had left closed was open.
She yelled at them to leave, grabbed her phone and called the police.
When the pair of intruders left, she realized that some of her roommate’s belongings were missing,
Police reviewed CCTV footage from the area and an officer identified one of the men near the driveway as David Joynes.
He was subsequently arrested and charged with burglary with intent to steal.
The victim told police she felt safe and secure in her “home” in Durham before the incident.
Jones, a third-time burglar, admitted to the latest burglary at a hearing in August, a week after he failed to appear at a court hearing and was arrested on a warrant.
The 46-year-old defendant, most recently of Eskdale Street, Darlington, is said to have 54 convictions for 205 offences, including previous burglaries dotted across his record dating back to 2000.
Annelise Haugstad, of Joynes, told the court: “He is 46 and it is fair to say he has served a number of previous custodial sentences.”
She said that on his previous release from prison, he found himself in difficult circumstances, with family health problems that caused him to return to drug abuse.
Miss Haugstad said this was behind the latest offense which led to his detention following his arrest on the warrant.
This comes at a time when he has health problems of his own, for which he is due to undergo surgery in the coming days.
Miss Haugstad said the accused was now looking forward to his eventual release so he could look after his partner at what she was going through, a “difficult time”.
“By my reckoning this is the 20th burglary you have committed and the sixth residential burglary.
“Your previous sentence of 54 months had not expired before you re-offended.”
Imposing a 31-month prison sentence, Judge Adams told the defendant it was a five-month reduction of the mandatory three years for three strikes and over burglaries, which was “merit” for his guilty plea.
The judge said that under the current circumstances he would serve 40 per cent of the sentence before becoming eligible for release, which, given the time he has served in custody, could be just over ten months from now.
But he warned the accused that if he wanted to stay out of custody in the future, he must avoid further offenses after his release.