"Coventry man breaks down in tears as he is jailed for burgling young couple's home"

[dutchman]

Brendan Bagley was jailed for two years and eight months



A ‘snivelling’ burglar began crying when he realised a judge was not prepared to suspend his sentence for breaking into a young Wellesbourne couple’s new home in the middle of the night.

And as Judge Peter Cooke read out part of the couple’s statement, he snapped at Brendan Bagley: "Stop snivelling. You did this to those people, and today you’re going to pay for it."

The woman in the house was heavily pregnant at the time - and remains shaken by the experience to this day.

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Bagley, 23, of Hawker Close, Coventry, was jailed for two years and eight months after finally pleading guilty to the burglary on the day of his trial at Warwick Crown Court.

Prosecutor Ravi Sidhu said that in July last year a young couple were asleep at their home in Grange Gardens, Wellesbourne, when the house was broken into during the night.

The keys to their Seat Leon were taken, and the car was then stolen from outside the house.

Mr Sidhu added that Bagley had 16 previous convictions for 32 offences, including a dwelling house burglary.

Judge Cooke told Bagley: “There is no earthly way I can suspend the sentence.

"You involved yourself in making an 18-mile nocturnal journey to Wellesbourne, and there you were involved in the violation of a young couple’s home.”

He referred to part of the man’s statement in which he said: "At the time of the burglary my partner was heavily pregnant.

"We had just bought the house. We had only lived there for eight months. The impact on my partner has been tremendous."

And as Bagley’s crying interrupted him, Judge Cooke snapped: "Stop snivelling. You did this to those people, and today you’re going to pay for it.

"You might like to think about how you would feel if somebody else had put your partner in that situation.

"If you violate someone’s home in the middle of the night, whether the woman is pregnant or not, it is profoundly unsettling for them."