Drug addict burglar jailed again after eleventh court appearance for Calderdale break-ins

A drug addict burglar with a record for break-ins dating back to the mid-1990s has been jailed again after admitting an early hours attack on a couple’s Brighouse home.
By Court Reporter
Published 8th Jul 2019, 15:48 BST

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Rastrick man Christopher Stone has been jailed for three yearsRastrick man Christopher Stone has been jailed for three years
Rastrick man Christopher Stone has been jailed for three years

Judge Colin Burn today (Mon) jailed 41-year-old Christopher Stone for three years after hearing that the crack cocaine and heroin addict had made 10 previous court appearances for burglaries at homes and commercial premises between 1994 and 2018.

Stone, of Scholey Road, Rastrick, got into the terraced home on Woodhouse Lane by “hooking” a set of keys through the letterbox, but his untidy search of the ground floor woke one of the occupiers who had been asleep upstairs.

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Rastrick man Christopher Stone has been jailed for three yearsRastrick man Christopher Stone has been jailed for three years
Rastrick man Christopher Stone has been jailed for three years

Prosecutor Christopher Styles told Bradford Crown Court that when the woman went onto her landing she could see Stone downstairs and retreated to the bedroom where she contacted the police shortly before 6am.

The court heard that Stone fled with high-value goods including a sound system, two laptops and a handbag containing bank cards.

About half an hour after the burglary on December 9 last year CCTV cameras caught Stone using one of the bank cards to withdraw £40 from a nearby ATM.

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None of the stolen property worth about £1500 had ever been recovered and Stone even named someone else as being responsible for the burglary.

But when his case was listed for trial today he finally pleaded guilty to the burglary charge and two fraud allegations relating to his use of the stolen bank card.

Two days after the break-in Stone assaulted a police officer who was escorting him to hospital while he was in custody on an unrelated matter.

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Judge Burn imposed an additional two months in jail after Stone pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker.

Stone’s barrister David McGonigal disputed the description of his client as a professional burglar and said his most recent offending involved more petty crimes.

“This is a man who clearly has a drug problem who acquires property to sell to then go and purchase crack and heroin,” said Mr McGonigal.

“At his age he appreciates that he needs to change.”

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