A burglar who crept into the bedroom of his victim as they slept has been jailed. Dean Lennox, of Pentillie Crescent, Plymouth appeared at Plymouth Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to a series of offences which took place in October 2024.
The court heard how police had initially been alerted to an incident at an address in Peverell in the early hours on Wednesday, October 30 last year which saw a number of items taken from a family home, including a set of car keys, a laptop and three bank cards. The victim told officers the burglar must have entered their bedroom and gone up to beside their bed as they slept as that is where they kept some of the items.
The victim’s Citroen car was also stolen from near their flat.
Officers later tracked the use of the bank cards at a number of stores and estimated they were used around 20 times before they were cancelled by the banks.
Dean Lennox – jailed for creeper burglary
(Image: Devon and Cornwall Police)
Lennox, aged 43, was identified and officer found the stolen car near to his home. He was arrested and charged with three counts of fraud by false representation, one count of theft of the vehicle and one count of burglary.
Lennox’s advocate, Chris Cuddihee, offered some mitigation on behalf of his client stating that he was “not a violent man” but accepted that his record for offences was “deeply unimpressive”, but added that Lennox life had been a “grim tale of addictions to substances that drives his offending behaviour”.
Judge David Evans told Lennox that he recognised he effectively admitted his offences during police interview, that it was a spur of the moment offence and was carried out to get money for drugs. He also noted his previous offences for domestic and non-domestic burglaries.
Taking account of the mitigating and aggravating factor Judge Evans said he would pass a sentence of 30 months of which he would serve 40 percent before being released on licence. He said he would also have to pay a victim surcharge of £228, before he then added: “I hope for your sake that this doesn’t become a revolving door”.
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