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Search forBurglar chased across town claims he was out for night-time run
Monday, October 27, 2008, 23:00
The victim was asleep when he was awoken by sounds of Keeling searching the lounge of his first- floor flat near the Esplanade in Seaton.
A judge is currently deciding whether to jail Keeling under the "three strikes" burglary crackdown, as he has already committed several crimes before.
The 46-year-old, of Queen Street, Seaton, pleaded guilty to burgling a flat in September this year when he appeared at the court on Friday.
Prosecutor Ann Hampshire said Keeling broke in through a window in the early hours of the morning.
"The householder was awoken by a rustling noise," she said.
"He went to investigate and saw a soft glow inside the lounge, which looked like a mobile phone screen.
"He called out, heard someone move away and saw the curtains flap."
Keeling had fled back out of the window but the householder got dressed, drove around Seaton and spotted a suspicious character on the Esplanade, who was the defendant.
He chased Keeling, while calling police on a mobile telephone, but they advised him not to approach, so he gave the defendant's description to officers when they arrived in a patrol car.
Officers arrested the defendant, searched his flat and found the stolen items including cash, a mobile telephone and wallet.
"The defendant said he had been on a run," said the prosecutor.
"He was certainly hot and sweaty but that was because he was being pursued, the Crown would say, by his victim."
She added: "This was a worrying and disturbing offence."
The court heard the defendant had a long history of crime including a seven-year jail sentence in 2002 for burglary.
Defence counsel Gareth Evans said the defendant was in a job, had good references and had made progress sorting his life out.
He said Keeling had been taught to steal by his father, and had become "institutionalised" after spending most of his life in care, borstal or jail.
When he was living in Seaton, he panicked about paying bills and found it difficult adjusting to normal life.
A probation officer had assessed him at moderate risk of reoffending and recommended a community order because of progress he had made.
Recorder Sarah Munro said that Keeling's childhood had been "like something out of Charles Dickens".
The judge said she needed evidence of whether the defendant would receive the necessary rehabilitation and help in prison to prevent reoffending.
If this was not possible, then a community order might have to be considered, despite the Three Strikes scheme.
She remanded the defendant in custody until sentencing on Friday this week.
