A burglar has been jailed after she was caught stealing from the home of a woman who had died just 13 days earlier.
Leanne Moore, 37, was caught by police outside the house in The Causeway, Soham, on April 20 last year after neighbours called the police to report noises coming from inside.
Officers challenged Moore and found her hiding five TV remotes, a video camera and a device to monitor blood sugar in a bag for life.
While talking to Moore her accomplice, Carl Scarrow - who had been living in a tent near a sewage works - was arrested after he was seen climbing out of a window with socks over his hands and holding a torch.
When police challenged Scarrow, 34, he said he was collecting some of his items from a friend’s house.
When he was told he was under arrest he attempted to run but was tackled to the ground.
During a struggle, he broke an officer’s glasses, causing damage worth £270. Eventually Scarrow calmed down and was handcuffed.
The items in Moore’s bag, meanwhile, were quickly found to have been stolen from the house so she was arrested and in interview claimed she had been holding the bag for a friend.
However, at Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday (April 22) Moore, of Broad Piece, Soham, was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to burglary.
She was handed a further two months, to run consecutively, after pleading guilty to five thefts in Suffolk.
Her accomplice was jailed for a year in May after he was found guilty of burglary and obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty.
DC Jennifer Park said: “Moore and her accomplice may have thought they were in luck in finding an empty house, but thanks to a neighbour’s vigilance and a quick response by officers, they now know this wasn’t the case.
“Tackling burglary is a priority for the force in our ongoing efforts to make our communities a safer place to live.”
For online burglary prevention advice visit: www.cambs.police.uk/A-Z/Burglary
Anyone with information about burglary should call police on 101 or visit www.cambs.police.uk/report
Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org
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