A BRADFORD burglar who “ransacked” a family home to steal jewellery of sentimental value and a haul of children’s Christmas presents has been jailed for three years.

Adrian Priestley, 37, kicked down the front door of the property in Halifax on December 15, 2016, before taking items worth nearly £3,000.

Bradford Crown Court heard that four months earlier, the defendant had also been involved in a botched burglary in Pudsey where a makeshift hook was used to try and steal car keys.

Prosecutor Graham O’Sullivan told the court that in the December incident, the family had returned to their home after attending a party to find a “scene of devastation”, including two doors being kicked down.

The items taken included a laptop and iPad, as well as jewellery belonging to the female occupant of the house.

In a victim impact statement, the woman described the loss of a necklace given to her by her late mother, saying: “It is heartbreaking to think I will never see it again. It’s devastating someone took these things just to make some money.”

Mr O’Sullivan said that earlier that year, on August 8, the occupant of a house on New Park Avenue in Farsley had been awoken during the night by a noise in his kitchen. On going downstairs, he saw a light outside the house and two figures running away from the property.

When police arrived, a cane with a thread and hook tied to its end was found near the door of the house, near a bag of tools.

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Mr O’Sullivan said that the men were “clearly trying to get car keys from the kitchen” in an attempt to steal a Volkswagen parked on the drive.

Priestley’s DNA was found on tools left at the scene of both incidents, and he later admitted two counts of burglary on the day of a proposed trial.

The court heard that the defendant, of Edward Street, Bierley, Bradford, had 28 convictions for 61 offences, including previous burglary offences.

Imran Khan, defending, said Priestley, who the court was told cares for his 14 year-old disabled son, was very remorseful for his actions and had been “sucked in by others to make easy money.”

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, said after a gap in his criminal record, Priestley had “returned with a vengeance to the offence of burglary.”

Describing the raid on the family as “truly appalling”, he said: “A poor family looking forward to Christmas, you enter their home and it is ransacked.

“This was an invasion and violation of that family’s security, privacy, and piece of mind.”