A 42-year-old man whose mother contacted police after seeing her son’s image on a Facebook appeal concerning a burglary was jailed on Monday.
Dean Nesbitt was handed an 18-month sentence which was divided equally between nine months in jail followed by nine months on licence.
He appeared at Belfast Crown Court remotely from prison and was sentenced by Judge Paul Ramsey on a single charge of burglary committed on October 6, 2021.
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On that date Nesbitt, whose address was given as HMP Maghaberry, broke into a property on the Antrim Road in Belfast which at the time was unoccupied.
He gained entry by throwing a concrete block through a pane of glass at the rear of the property, then he proceeded to steal multiple items from the house. Crown barrister Gareth Purvis said the items stolen were £5,000 in cash along with items of jewellery and electrical goods.
The break-in was caught on a security camera, footage was handed to police and screenshots of the wanted man were uploaded to social media. A Facebook appeal was launched to try and identify the burglar and five days after the break-in, Nesbitt’s mother contacted the PSNI, told officers the image was of her son and asked that the appeal be taken down.
Nesbitt was subsequently arrested and during interview he admitted he was the person captured on the security footage - but claimed he had no memory of the incident due to his drug intake at the time.
He also issued an apology to the woman whose home he targeted and an engagement ring that he stole was returned to the occupant.
Defence barrister Joe Brolly said the break-in occurred “in the middle of a very difficult period” in Nesbitt’s life.
Saying the custody threshold had been passed and noting Nesbitt had a “very significant” criminal record, Judge Ramsey imposed the 18-month sentence.
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