Washington couple 'did not sleep for months' after burglar raided home and stole car in disturbing crime

The intruder got into the house in Washington through an unlocked back patio door, searched a drawer in the living room and then took keys from inside the front door.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the keys were used to take a Renault Clio car and a bank card from inside the vehicle was used to make a purchase at a petrol station.

Jordan Dixon, 28, of no fixed address, was identified from CCTV inside the petrol station as the person who used the card and was convicted of burglary, theft and fraud after a magistrates court trial.

He denied being responsible for the break-in and claimed he had been at a party when the offence happened.

In a victim statement, one of the couple said: "We kept thinking he would come back and could not sleep properly for months.

"Our daily routine has completely changed.

"Everything has changed since we were burgled."

Gavin Doig, defending, said Dixon now claims it was another man who entered the house.

The court heard Dixon is currently serving a 68 month prison sentence for separate, unrelated offences of robbery and violence.

Mr Recorder Andrew Smith sentenced him to a further nine months behind bars, on top of the jail term he is already serving.

The judge told him: "The fact is this was nighttime, an occupied dwelling house, you had no right to be in there.

"The victims weren't disturbed but the victim personal statement shows the affect this had upon them.

"Nothing rattles people more than to wake up in the morning to find when they were asleep someone has been in their home."