A ‘SELFISH and mean’ serial housebreaker who tried to prise a cigarette and a McDonald’s from the police in return for help to trace stolen valuables has been jailed for three years and seven months. 

Michael Holt, 56, of Crosley Wood Road, Bingley, smashed his way into an address in the Keighley area on New Year’s Day and escaped with gold watches, cufflinks, rings and earrings of great sentimental and monetary value. 

Prosecutor Lydia Carroll said that the haul from the overnight break-in included a £1,000 engraved watch that was a wedding present, a 1910 engraved ring and a second gold watch worth £3,000. 

Holt’s case was adjourned at Bradford Crown Court in June because his lawyer said he could help to trace the stolen property by giving the police the address where it was being kept. 

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Bradford Crown Court

Today, barrister James Holding told the court that the engraved watch and ring and some cufflinks had been traced and would be returned to the owners.   

Mr Holding said Holt had provided the address where he had sold the items to, allowing the police to act on that information. 

But Miss Carroll stated that although he had been of assistance, he had asked the police for ‘a cigarette and a McDonald’s’ they were unable to provide in exchange for the address. However, the help he went on to provide was ‘fruitful in some regards.’ 

She said there was no victim impact statement because the burgled couple did not want to be seen as victims. 

The court heard that they were away on holiday when the intruder alarm was activated. A neighbour saw a light on in the bedroom and alerted the police. 

The couple cut short their holiday and returned home to find a rear window smashed, blinds broken and jewellery boxes strewn across the bed. 

CCTV footage showed Holt going into the house for five minutes and making off on foot as the police attended.Blood at the scene was a DNA match for him. 

When he was arrested, he told the police he wasn’t the burglar and the blood wasn’t his but he wouldn’t provide an alibi. 

Miss Carroll said he was trying to use his information about the whereabouts of the stolen property as ‘a bargaining tool’ to get a cigarette and a McDonald’s. 

Holt had 104 previous convictions for 236 offences, committed over 44 years, including 170 matters of theft. 

He was ‘more than’ a third striker for housebreaking, the court was told. 

Judge Sophie McKone asked Miss Carroll if any action would be taken against the men who had the stolen items in their possession. 

She disclosed that the police were sending the information to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision. 

Mr Holding said in mitigation that Holt suffered with anxiety and depression. He had a history of drug use, couldn’t hold down jobs and offended to fund his addiction. 

He was facing the prospect of spending longer and longer in prison with most of his life wasted. 

A number of items of sentimental value had been returned, although Mr Holding conceded that they shouldn’t have been taken in the first place. 

Judge McKone said Holt’s position was ‘massively aggravated’ by his criminal record. 

He got three years last time and it didn’t stop him going out burgling again. 

Holt broke into the address at night, interrupting the couple’s holiday by his selfish and mean behaviour. He stole items of significant sentimental as well as monetary value. 

Judge McKone said his previous convictions went back decades. He was a third strike burglar and a prolific shoplifter. 

She told Holt, who was sentenced on a video link to HMP Leeds where he was remanded, that his anxiety and depression were down to his long-term drug use. 

He had indicated a not guilty plea at the magistrates’ court and was therefore entitled to less credit than a prompt admission would have attracted. 

Holt told the court from the prison booth: “I’m glad they’ve got the stuff back. I shouldn’t have done it.”