A WOMAN has spoken of her “despair” after returning home to discover the devastation of a break-in.

The widow, who lives alone with her little dog at the detached property in Trimdon Station, no longer feels safe there and is seeking to move.

Durham Crown Court heard that she got home late on Friday, March 2 to find the house turned upside down, with rooms ransacked, wardrobes and boxes emptied, and items of sentimental value, including jewellery, either stolen or strewn around.

Despite having spent money renovating the property she said she can no longer sleep soundly and plans to move, despite taking a potential financial loss.

Sam Faulks, prosecuting, said entry was forced via a shattered conservatory door, with jewellery, estimated to be worth £10,400, taken, along with a lap-top computer, an ereader, £800 in sterling and £3,000 in Euros,.

Prolific burglar John Robert Robinson was linked to the crime via a shoe-lift taken from the scene.

Mr Faulks said the following day Robinson, 55, 19-year-old Kyle Barnett and Ian Lamb, 32, were seen arriving in a Ford Fiesta car, at the Metrocentre, where they pawned some of the stolen jewellery at an antiques shop, for £1,400.

Minutes later, Barnett bought £319-worth of clothing at a fashion store, using a bundle of notes.

Mr Faulks said, “thankfully”, some of the stolen property was returned, but much of it remains outstanding.

During different stages in proceedings, Mr Faulks said guilty pleas were made, Robinson, described as, “a career criminal”, to burglary, and all three to converting criminal property.

Nick Cartmell, for Robinson, said he has, “an inglorious” record, as a multiple burglar, but the householder can rest assured she was not targeted, as he only carried out the break-in as no-one was present at the time.

Robinson, of Luke Avenue, Kelloe, was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Lamb, 32, of Sunniside Terrace, Trimdon Grange, who was said to have no previous similar offending on his record, while playing a lesser role in this offence, was given a six-month community order, with 12-probation supervised activity days.

Barnett, 19. of Cravens Cottages, Wingate, was also sentenced for his part in a conspiracy to burgle another house in the village, from where car keys were taken enabling two high-value vehicles to be driven away for sale, to order, in Birmingham. He received a total 20-month sentence in a young offenders’ institution (YOI).

Co-accused in the conspiracy, admitted by the trio last Friday, Mark Thomas Gaskell, 34, of Wood View, Trimdon Station, was jailed for 26 months, and Jack Bruce, 20, of Laburnum Crescent, also Trimdon Station, received a 19-month YOI sentence.