A JAIL sentence has been handed to a burglar who stole sentimental items from a woman in Hungerford.

After pleading guilty to one count of burglary, Ryan Solly, 43, was jailed after his hearing at Reading Crown Court on Monday (August 21).

The incident happened at a ground-floor flat in Wessex Close on May 12 this year when Solly and, allegedly one other, smashed through the glass patio door in the middle of the day.

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A safe with sentimental items was stolen and most of the items have never been recovered.

District Judge Greenfield jailed Solly, of Newtown Road, Newbury, for two years.

Opening the case, prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson said the flat's owner had been at work while it happened.

Her neighbour phoned her with the news that the flat had been broken into and when she returned home she found that the safe which was bolted to the bottom of a cupboard had been taken.

Mr Ward-Jackson said the items inside the safe were of ‘great value’ to the flat’s owner.

Inside was a £700 Gucci, which was a gift, a Louis Vuitton wallet bought second-hand for £50, a pocket watch which belong to her great-great-grandfather, and a wristwatch which was an 18th birthday present.

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“She doesn’t know the value of the watch,” said Mr Ward-Jackson. “But she had taken it to an expert who valued it at about £300 but of course, it’s of much greater value to her and her parents.”

A victim impact statement written by the woman stated that she suffers from autism and had only just moved from her parent's home to ‘set up on her own’.

But now she is unhappy in her flat and misses the stolen items of ‘great sentimental value’.

Police were called and blood found on the smashed glass patio door matched that of Solly’s who was arrested the next day in Market Square, Newbury.

The court heard Solly has an ‘extensive’ history of offending, including mostly ‘minor dishonesty’ crimes such as shop thefts.

Defending Solly, George Joshua said: “The motivation for his behaviour is his drug addiction – he fell off the wagon and began to use again after having a period of abstinence.”

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Solly states he was the ‘accomplice’ in the incident and had only helped break into the flat. He claims he didn’t enter the home and doesn’t know where the stolen items are.

Mr Joshua said: “He was essentially a passenger but he does accept his contribution.”