A burglar who smashed his way into the home of a couple while they were out on a family visit has been jailed for four and a half years.
Nigel Mills stole computer equipment containing treasured family photographs together with a television set when he burgled the bungalow in Church Lane, Moulton.
Phil Howes, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court that the victims , who are retired, arrived home from a trip to babysit their granddaughter to discover their conservatory door had been smashed.
Mr Howes said: “Glass was everywhere. Muddy footprints were left around the house and a number of drawers were left open.
“It was a huge shock to the victims. They had years’ worth of work on the computer and four generations of family photographs.”
Mills was arrested two days later and when police checked his mobile phone they found incriminating text messages which he sent in an effort to find someone to take the stolen property off his hands.
Mills (34), of South Parade, Peterborough, admitted burglary on November 17, 2014. The court was told it was his fifth conviction for house burglary.
Mills also admitted breach of a suspended jail sentence imposed by North Cambridgeshire magistrates in October 2014 for offences of battery and criminal damage. He was given a three-month consecutive sentence for those matters.
Passing sentence Judge John Pini QC said irreplaceable family photographs belonging to the victims had been lost as a result of the burglary and he told Mills: “Your record is a very bad one indeed.”
Robert Underwood, defending, said Mills apologised to his victims. He told the court that Mills is currently free of drugs and there were signs that he wanted to change his ways.
