Serial burglar jailed after he was found guilty of carrying out three burglaries in Northampton

A 55-year-old man was jailed yesterday for burgling the offices of his own sheltered accommodation in Northampton.

Lorenzo Douglas, 55, of St George’s Street, pleaded guilty to burglary at a Crown court hearing on Wednesday, December 23 last year.

The burglaries all took place between September 23 and December 22 2020 at the offices of his own sheltered accommodation where the defendant was living at the time.

The court heard how Douglas used a key he claims he "found" to get into the office before stealing a member of staff's purse and £27 in cash. Another night, he used the same set of keys to steal milk and a mobile phone.

The defendant, on the third occasion, tried again to get into the office on December 22 but was unsuccessful.

Douglas has been convicted for a total of 145 offences since 1978; 28 of those offences were burglaries. The defendant, when committing these latest offences, was in breach of an eight month suspended sentence from a previous conviction of burglary from 2019.

Will Heyward, defending, said that Douglas “was no stranger to the justice system” and explained that the defendant had been diagnosed with a mental health condition and, in 2020, found a place to live which has supported living for vulnerable people.

Mr Heyward said: “He found a key which had been dropped in his room. He told me that he did not have any money or food in his flat and he does not have any issues with drugs but he is just bad at managing his money.”

The court heard that Douglas has since been receiving medication for his condition in custody and he feels remorse for his actions.

Her Honour Judge Adrienne Lucking, said: “I have got no option but to send you to prison today. You have received as much mercy that this court can show to recognizing your condition.

“What you did was mean. There was accommodation provided, there was a key that you used three times and you took money and milk from a person.”

Douglas was sentenced to three-and-a-half months in prison to run consecutively with his six-month suspended prison sentence.