Burglar jailed following Christmas Day stealing spree

A burglar from Manchester has been jailed after being caught by officers going through a student home in Withington on Christmas Day and stealing jewellery.

Christopher Day (23/07/1972), of Aston Avenue, Moss Side, was sentenced on Friday 22 January 2021 to over two years at Manchester Crown Court (Crown Square) after pleading guilty to eight counts of burglary.

The court heard how police were alerted to Day by a concerned neighbour on Amherst Road who had seen a suspicious man gain entry to a student house on the morning of Christmas Day 2020.

Officers from GMP's City of Manchester South division attended and in doing so spotted Day, who tried to evade police by hiding back inside the house.

Day was found in the kitchen of the property before engaging in a foot chase with officers into a nearby garden - disposing of his jacket and pockets full of jewellery in the process.

Police arrested Day a short time later, and while continuing enquiries at the address found that he had been in eight rooms in the house - forcing entry into seven of them.

The 48-year-old pleaded guilty to all charges of burglary and was sentenced to serve two years and four months in custody and ordered to pay a fine of £190.

Police Constable Ben Pickup, of GMP's Problem Solving Team (PST) - a team dedicated to working alongside local policing in tackling burglaries - said: "This was an all-round fantastic result; right from the neighbour contacting police, to officers catching Day as he tried to flee on foot, right to him being held accountable for his actions and brought to justice in court.

"Day is a criminal who tried to take advantage of the occupants being away from their address at Christmas by entering the property and taking whatever he could, particularly jewellery. I am glad he will be spending next Christmas behind bars.

"This case exemplifies the endeavours of local officers working with the PST to catch any criminals who commit offences such as this - burglary is a big priority of ours and we will do all we can to rid the streets of such offenders and keep the people and properties of Greater Manchester safe."