A drunken burglar fell asleep for four and a half hours during a break-in but was still able to escape while wearing the victim's jumper.
Carl Roberts also stole tens of thousands of pounds of jewellery and luxury watches when he targeted another house. But some of the goods he pilfered were retrieved when a quick-thinking pubgoer pretended to be a police officer and spooked him.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Thursday, that the 53-year-old was arrested at around 3.30am on May 10 this year after being found smoking cannabis with friends in Liverpool city centre. Roberts - of Aldgate in Ellesmere Port - gave a false name when challenged by officers, but checks revealed that he was a wanted man.
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Louisa Santamera, prosecuting, described how a number of bank cards in another name were found in a black bag which he was carrying and tried to snatch from the grasp of PCs when it was seized. A small amount of cannabis was also discovered in his jacket pocket after he was taken into custody in relation to a burglary which occurred on Allport Road in Bromborough, Wirral, almost exactly a month earlier on April 9.
On this occasion, the occupant had spent the previous evening in the Merebrook pub before returning home and going to bed at around 11.30pm. When he woke up the following morning, he noticed the front door was slightly ajar and his mobile phone had gone but thought he may have left it in the pub.
The homeowner later went to use his iPad, but discovered it was missing from the cupboard in the living room where it was kept - as was a drone he used as part of his work as a self-employed roofer. A short time later, his dad arrived and said he had received a phone call from "a man called Anton" who told him the stolen phone had been left in the Crocodile pub on Harrington Street in the city centre.
The caller stated he had been approached by a man in the premises offer items for sale from a Sports Direct bag he was carrying. But the quick-thinking drinker claimed he was a police officer, causing Roberts to flee and leave the sports bag behind.
The victim was then shown this bag on FaceTime, and was able to confirm that it and its contents were his. Upon checking CCTV cameras at his home, he saw the burglar enter his home at around 3am before leaving again at 7.3am carrying the Sports Direct bag and wearing one of his jumpers.
Roberts later returned to the pub "looking for a bag he had left there". A member of staff took his details down saying he would be in touch after making enquiries, but instead gave these to the complainant - who informed the police.
The defendant was also linked to a break-in on Pen Y Bryn Road in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, on September 22 last year. In this case, the victim left his home at around 10.45am and spent the day with his girlfriend.
When he returned home - which had its windows boarded up as new ones were in the process of being fitted - at around 6pm, he noticed that items inside had been moved. The occupant then discovered that wooden boards on an upstairs officers had been pulled away while items including a Breitling watch, two laptops, several bottles of expensive whisky and designer jewellery belonging to his partner - goods valued at an estimated £30,000 - had been stolen from the third floor.
A blue hold-all had been taken from the garage, with North Wales Police then receiving reports of a man offering items for sale from such a bag in the town. CCTV captured Roberts subsequently cycling near to Colwyn Bay Station, while a bottle of Dalmore whisky which was later found in a bush outside his home had his DNA on it.
He has a total of 29 previous convictions, including 17 for burglary. The dad-of-three was described by his counsel as "articulate" man who is "the first to recognise his appalling record".
Addressing the judge, Roberts said he had found the front door of the Bromborough house "wide open" and said of his extended stay inside: "I must have been asleep. I was drunk."
Meanwhile, he stated that he had found himself in North Wales because he was homeless at the time. Reading a letter to the court, Roberts described how he had secured a job with a logistics company following his release from his last spell in prison but began drinking and lost this employment and his relationship.
He added: "I have wasted most of my life in and out of custody. Following my last release, I tried hard to change my ways.
"It was only a matter of time before my issues with alcohol returned and the inevitable happened. I will do all I can to address these issues and become a hard-working man, it is not too late for me."
Roberts admitted two counts of burglary and possession of cannabis. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed four years.
Sentencing, Judge David Aubrey KC said: "You are extremely well-known to the criminal courts. You have numerous convictions, and on no less than 17 previous occasions you have been before the court for the offence of burgling dwelling houses.
"You, if I may say so, are a rather enigmatic character. There is no doubt whatsoever that you do have an understanding and insight into the issues that you undoubtedly have got.
"You recognise the suffering you have caused to the occupiers of dwelling houses over a number of decades. Alcohol again got a grip upon you."
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