Yahoo News Newcastle woman who stole wallet from man's flat in sheltered accommodation jailed
A burglar who broke into a man's flat and stole his wallet has been locked up.
Rachel Cousins, 35, waited until the man was in the lounge of the sheltered accommodation where he lived in Byker, Newcastle, before she targeted his property.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the man returned to his flat and found the door ajar. He discovered that his wallet, which contained £300 in cash, his bank card, a lottery ticket and loose change, had gone.
Nicoleta Alistari, prosecuting, told the court how the burglary took place on April 6 this year. She said that Cousins was arrested on April 26 and gave mostly no comment answers in interview.
She said: "The defendant was identified from CCTV footage in the entrance hall and seen entering the block of flats with her partner.
"She and her partner had been staying with one of the residents. They were homeless at the time."
Cousins, of Westgate Road, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to burglary. Mairi Clancy, defending, told the court that she entered a guilty plea in the magistrates' court at the first opportunity.
She said: "She, through me, expresses a significant amount of shame and remorse for what this offence entailed. It's clearly a really unattractive offence. In her own words to me, she needed to be in custody back in April."
Ms Clancy said that she has a long list of offending but she has never turned to burglary before. She said that she had been on remand in prison since April 27 this year.
She added: "She was staying in the place where the burglary took place. It's not like she set out to deliberately target a sheltered accommodation block.
"At the time she was homeless and she stole the wallet to try and fund accommodation for the night. At the time of the offence, she was with who was then her partner, who had been quite seriously domestically abusive towards her.
"She was gripped by a serious drug addiction. She started taking drugs at the age of 13. Her childhood was difficult and clearly horrifying in many ways and set her unsurprisingly on the path that it's led her on today."
Judge Tim Gittins told the defendant: "What you did there was check that he was in the lounge area of the accommodation, knowing that his flat would be empty and taking advantage of him not locking his front door, you went in and took his wallet."
The judge sentenced Cousins, who appeared in court via video link to Holme House prison, to 12 months behind bars. He also handed her a three year restraining order against the victim.
