TWO burglars who carried out a late night raid on an isolated rural property while a young family slept have been jailed for a total of four and-a-half years.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the raid in Hurworth Moor, near Darlington, involving John Critchlow and co-defendant Macauley Allen had “devastated” the victims who were now considering stepping up security measures.

Prosecutor Penny Bottomley said the female occupant heard a thud in the living room and footsteps in a hallway.

She woke her husband and the pair ventured downstairs to find a television had gone missing, while there were footprints on the carpet.

A handbag and its contents, two remote controls and several computer games were also taken. Police were alerted and quickly came across Critchlow and Allen in Neasham Road, Hurworth Moor. Allen was carrying a satchel with the remotes and computer games in it and wearing fleece gloves, while Critchlow had a balaclava on him.

The handbag was later found in a nearby field and the television under a hedge.

The woman in a victim impact statement said: “I dread to think what could have happened if my daughter had gone to investigate or they had gone into my son or daughter’s bedrooms.

“We feel sick about what has happened. Both children have been severely affected by the incident and my daughter was woken up and could not stop sobbing. She keeps saying about the bad man taking the TV.”

The court was told that 21-year-old Allen, of Thirlmere Road, Darlington, was a “three strike” burglar as a result of having been convicted of two house burglaries - which meant a mandatory jail sentence.

Ben Pegman, mitigating, said he had never entered the property and had assisted Critchlow with the television.

He was said to have had an extraordinary troubled upbringing and told a report author he was ashamed of his actions.

Critchlow, 19, of Turnstall Terrace, Darlington, who had a conviction for burgling his own father, said he wished to write a letter to the victims to stress how sorry he was.

Judge Peter Armstrong said the duo, who both admitted burglary on May 26 this year, were “in it together”.

He said the fact the occupants were in at the time put the offence in a category of greater harm.

The judge said the least sentence he could pass was two and-a-half years for Allen and two years for Critchlow, who will be detained in a young offenders’ institution.