A BURGLAR who broke into a couple’s home while they slept has been jailed for 32 months after he also admitted another 13 similar offences.

Dr Andrew Ward and his wife were asleep at their home in Primula Close, Littlemoor, on the night of Friday, April 8 when Daniel Stuart Sandison raided the property and made off with a haul worth nearly £1,500.

Sandison, aged 28, of Chaffinch Close, Weymouth, appeared at Dorchester Crown Court to be sentenced after he admitted the crime and also asked for 13 other burglaries in the Weymouth area over a two month period be taken into consideration.

Edward Elton, prosecuting, said GP Dr Ward went to bed at around midnight on the night of the burglary and had left the back door of his home unlocked.

He awoke at 6.30am to find two laptops that had been left on a table downstairs were gone and the back door was open.

Mr Elton said as well as the laptops Dr Ward and his wife also lost other items including a wallet, bank cards and credit cards.

He said the total estimated value of all the items was £1,465.

Mr Elton said Sandison was arrested after he tried to sell the two laptops at Cash Generator and was interviewed by police.

He said: “When first interviewed he denied all knowledge but later accepted not just that burglary but 13 other burglaries and it’s the view of the police force that these burglaries were likely to have remained unsolved but for his involvement.”

Mr Elton said in a victim impact statement Dr Ward described how he had experienced trouble sleeping after the break-in and the property had never been recovered.

Max Owen, mitigating, said Sandison had a number of previous convictions as a youth that related to a heroin addiction but despite having been clean for five years prior to these offences had relapsed into his old habits after his partner left him.

Mr Owen said: “He became extremely depressed and he again fell into heroin usage.

“He accepts that because of that he committed the burglary which he had admitted as well as the offences taken into consideration.”

The other thirteen

Sandison pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary at an address in Primula Close on April 9, which was reported at 7.50am.

His other matters to be taken into consideration were burglaries at:

1. Kestrel View on April 14.

2. Meadow View Road on April 14.

3. Bridelbank Way on April 12.

4. Dahlia Close on April 9.

5. The Doves on April 9.

6. Primula Close on April 9 7. Kestrel View on April 8. 8. Reedling Close on April 5.

9. Dorchester Road on April 1.

10. Springfield Road on March 15.

11. Nightingdale Drive on February 27.

12. Brambling Close on February 25.

13. Court Road on March 21.