A PROLIFIC Carlisle burglar has been jailed for committing his 16th home break-in.
Shane Millea, 44, first tried to smash his way into a man’s Fusehill Street home in the city on December 2. He damaged a door during an unsuccessful entry attempt and searched a car belonging to the householder, who later spoke of finding the incident “upsetting”.
The following day, Millea broke into a woman’s unoccupied Currock Street home in Carlisle. She returned to find rooms had been ransacked and personal items were missing.
“She says she no longer feels safe in her property,” prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told Carlisle Crown Court.
Millea, of the city’s John Street, was sentenced after he admitted burglary, attempted burglary and vehicle interference. The court heard of his 112 previous offences, and that the Currock Street crime was his 16th home burglary.
When quizzed by police after his arrest, Millea gave a prepared statement in which he spoke of being “off his head on tablets” at the time of his latest offences, and having no memory of them.
He was jailed for 58 months by Judge Peter Davies, who said of the female burglary victim: “Her house was invaded, Mr Millea. You have to feel safer in your own house than anywhere else. You can shut the door and close the windows. She does not have that privilege.”