Sheffield householder kept burglar’s shoe while seizing leg as he fled through window
The previous October, Packer had struck at Sheffield United’s training academy near Pitsmoor
A Sheffield householder kept a burglar’s shoe while seizing the thief by the leg as he made his way back out a window, a court heard.
The startled homeowner found former crematorium furnace operator Alex Packer, 33, in his living room at 4am on July 26 this year - having left the window open at his city centre flat in Hartshead Square.
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Oishee Day, prosecuting, told Sheffield Crown Court how as the occupant yelled “somebody help, call the police”, Packer threw a stolen wrist watch back at him then slipped free and ran off.
The previous October, Packer had struck at Sheffield United’s training academy near Pitsmoor.
A security guard patrolling outside saw him standing at an open second-floor window, shouting “help me please, someone wants to kill me”.
When police arrived they found Packer “covered in blood”, having smashed a window to gain entry. He had taken a set of keys and a hand-held radio.
Stuart Bell, defending, said his client, who had just one previous conviction for knife possession, had committed the burglaries in the context of a “mental health breakdown”.
He was formerly a “functioning” crack and heroin addict who held down construction and crematorium jobs. However he “lost control” of his drug use when unable to work after a car crash.
Recorder Robert Ward suspended a 21-month jail term for 12 months with a probation and drug rehabilitation requirement.
Packer, of no fixed abode, admitted burglary.