A South Yorkshire burglar was identified by a trail of blood at a crime scene

Sheffield Crown Court heard on March 8 how Jordan Jones, aged 20, of Lyndhurst Crescent, Edenthorpe, Doncaster, burgled a terraced house on Ellerker Avenue, at Hexthorpe, Doncaster.

Tom Heath, prosecuting, said the occupant left for work on February 25, 2020, only to return to find his home had been burgled and ransacked.

Recorder David Gordon told Jones: “He left home at 4.50am and locked up and expected to come home - no doubt tired - at 2.30pm and put his feet up but what he found is he had been burgled by you and his property was stolen and worse than that his house had been ransacked.”

Mr Heath said drawers were emptied, items were on the floor, doors had been pulled off hinges and the stolen goods, valued at £150, included a silver ring, a gold chain, a gold buckle ring, a power pack for a mobile phone and batteries from a games console.

But Mr Heath added that a sample was taken from droplets of blood found at the property and a DNA match was linked with the defendant.

Jones, who has previous convictions, pleaded guilty to the burglary.

Becky Jane, defending, said Jones accepts he had been under the influence of crack-cocaine but he has addressed his drug problem and he has not committed any further offences for a year.

She added that Jones has had a difficult up-bringing and he has struggled with depression after he suffered the tragic loss of his two-year-old daughter.

Recorder Gordon told Jones: “It seems to me this is a case of greater harm. Not because of the vast amount or value of the property stolen but the way you went about it, ransacking this man’s house and leaving your blood on his property. Desecrating the man’s home. Quite disgusting.”

But Recorder Gordon recognised Jones’s mental health problems and that drugs have influenced his offending.

He sentenced Jones to eight months of custody suspended for 24 months with a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and a Drug Rehabilitation Requirement.

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