Mother and son burglary team are caught red-handed

And at Warwick Crown Court Daniel Lewis, 25, and Beverley Lewis, 48, both of Cymbeline Way, Warwick Gates, Warwick, pleaded guilty to the burglary.

Daniel, who also admitted an earlier burglary in the town and possessing cannabis, was jailed for a total of 22 months.

His mother, who admitted a further charge of receiving stolen property, was jailed for 12 months – consecutive to a three-year sentence she is already serving.

Prosecutor Iain Willis said that in October last year a house in Tachbrook Road, Leamington, was burgled and a Hugo Boss watch and a mobile phone were stolen.

The £325 watch, which Beverley admitted receiving, was later found at the defendants’ home, and when the phone was recovered it had their numbers stored on it.

On November 11, Daniel broke into a house in Bushy End, Warwick, by smashing a side window while the owner was out during the day, and stole a games console and games.

But footprints found on the cistern in the downstairs toilet, where he had climbed in, matched the shoes Daniel was wearing when he was later arrested.

That took place after he and his mother had broken into a house in Jack Cade Way, near their home, by smashing a conservatory door and an inner door to get in.

They stole property worth £1,500 including three cameras, an i-Pod, a laptop computer and jewellery.

But a neighbour who had been disturbed by the noise saw them running from the scene and contacted the police, to whom he gave a description of the intruders.

Recognising the defendants from the description, the police were at their home to arrest them within 15 minutes and found a crowbar used to break in.

Officers also recovered all the property taken in that raid, plus the Hugo Boss watch from the Tachbrook Road burglary, and Daniel had a small amount of cannabis on him.

Mr Willis said Daniel had previous convictions for offences including burglary, and had only been released from prison a few weeks before the offences.

And Beverley, a former nurse who turned to selling drugs to support her own habit after she lost her job, is already serving a prison sentence for dealing.

She was jailed in December for three years after she had admitted possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply them – for which she was on bail at the time of the burglary.

Jamie Strong, defending, said that at the time they were both addicted to drugs, and asked the Judge to bear in mind the ‘totality’ of the sentence Beverley Lewis will have to serve.

Jailing the mother and son, Recorder Thomas Crowther said of the burglary they committed together: “You and the entire haul were found by the police at your home.

“It was good fortune for the householders that those goods had not been sold on.

“Any burglary leaves feelings of increasing insecurity and distress for those who have been burgled.”

And he told Beverley Lewis: “Your record and the pre-sentence report shows the intensely deteriorating effect heroin can have.”