THE effect of a burglary on a householder was highlighted in the statement of the victim, which was read to a court.

Judge Christopher Prince asked for the testimony of the resident to be outlined at a hearing at Durham Crown Court, after a defendant admitted handling some of the stolen items.

The victim, in her late 60s, returned home from attending a funeral to discover an intruder had entered via patio doors, on August 26 last year.

Although some of the jewellery and keepsakes stolen were not said to have high actual value, they were said to be of great sentimental value, many being family heirlooms and hand-me-downs.

In her statement, she spoke of the loss and how frightened she is to now leave the house, while she also struggles to sleep thinking of what happened.

The statement was read in the case of Dean English, who has a long record of offending, including previous convictions for burglary.

He appeared via video link from the nearby prison, charged with the burglary of a house in Nevilles Cross, Durham, in which more than £3,300-worth of jewellery and silverware was taken.

English denied burglary, but admitted handling some of the stolen haul in the weeks after the break-in.

Ian Mullarkey, mitigating, told the court: “He says he was in the process of tidying a garden and garage area, and came into possession of the items, but he didn’t have involvement beyond that.

“It was essentially assisting his associate to store them out of the way.”

Thirty-three-year-old English, formerly of Basingstoke Road, Peterlee, County Durham, was bailed to an address in Pounder Place, Hartlepool, to return for sentence, on April 10.

A co-accused, 36-year-old Colin Rutherford, of Fairburn Road, Peterlee, admitted handling goods stolen in four burglaries, including the Nevilles Cross break-in, and was jailed for a total of 16 months at the court, last month.