'Loving person with heart of gold' who ransacked lone female pensioner's Portsmouth house after husband went into care is jailed

Sean Callan, 37, of Magdalen Road, Hilsea, carried out the cruel burglary in Tipner Road on November 6-7 when the victim, whose husband had recently gone into care, was away.

During the raid, Callan smashed through the door with a concrete slab before going into every room and throwing items around including Christmas gifts.

Callan helped himself to 280 Euros and sets of keys, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.

The victim, in a statement read out to court, said of her ordeal: ‘I was extremely upset to come back to my house where I live alone to find someone had broken into it. My whole house was ransacked.

‘I live alone after my husband went into care and have only just got used to this and now this happens.’

The court heard Callan, who has 66 previous convictions to his name including previous for burglary and dishonesty matters, had struggled with Class A ‘misuse’ and alcohol dependency - leaving him struggling to have a ‘clear recollection’ of the burglary.

But Callan, who admitted a single count of burglary, said he was ‘disgusted’ by his actions.

The defendant’s partner told the court how the pair had moved to Portsmouth from Watford to make a ‘fresh start’ and said it was a ‘kick in the teeth’ when he was recalled to prison for a previous offence two weeks later.

Pleading for Callan to be spared jail, she said he had engaged with probation before adding: ‘There is no way he would neglect his responsibilities. He has done everything in his power to change. I am right behind him.’

Judge, Recorder Elisabeth Bussey-Jones, said she had received a number of glowing references from those close to the defendant. ‘People love you very dearly and think very much of you,’ she said.

‘People say you are a “lovely person with a heart of gold”.’

But the judge, summing up the offence, said: ‘You smashed through the door with a concrete slab before systematically ransacking all rooms which were upturned with items thrown around including Christmas presents opened.

‘The occupier had only recently put her husband into care.’

After ‘thinking long and hard’ about whether to spare Callan jail, Recorder Bussey-Jones concluded the offence was ‘so serious’ that only immediate custody could be imposed.

She said: ‘There are no factors in personal mitigation that lead me to believe I should suspend the sentence.

‘I note you tried to start a new life and came to the area in June 2021 but in November you had committed an offence of this severity.’

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The judge said Callan had a number of previous convictions to his name, including two vehicle thefts in March 2021, which served to ‘aggravate’ his latest offence.

The jail sentence was reduced down from 14 months to 10 months.

Recorder Bussey-Jones added: ‘I hope you can take the good points and move on after your sentence and live a law-abiding life.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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