Repeat burglar caught by victim's public appeal
Northumbria PoliceA serial burglar who was caught after his victim posted doorbell camera footage of him online has been jailed for three and a half years.
Anthony Coyles, 53, was recognised by a Sunderland shop worker he had tried to swap currency with hours after breaking into a woman's home and stealing cash and jewellery, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Several weeks later Coyles and three associates broke into a pub, smashed various items and stole bottles of spirit.
Coyles, who had 115 offences on his criminal record dating back to 1987, admitted two counts of burglary.
The first victim was out shopping on 5 July when she got a call from a neighbour saying her front door was wide open and her dogs were out in the street, prosecutor Jasmine Dodd said.
The woman returned to her Sunderland home and found a burglar had broken in and stolen £270 worth of jewellery and £20 in cash, the court heard.
'Breached people's safety'
The woman checked her doorbell camera footage and saw Coyles loitering around her home before breaking in, the court heard.
The woman posted the footage on social media and a worker in the Bridges Shopping Centre recognised him from when he had tried to swap currency that afternoon, the court heard.
Coyles had given his name and address to the currency converter leading police right to his door, Dodd said.
He told officers he had thrown the jewellery away, the court heard.
On 23 July, Coyles went with a man and woman and broke into a pub in Sunderland while the manager was at home upstairs, the court heard.
They smashed a bandit machine, till and screen before fleeing with bottles of spirits when the manager came downstairs, the court heard.
Recorder Rebecca Brown said Coyles, of no fixed abode, had an "entrenched" pattern of trespassing in people's priorities with an "intent to steal".
"Everyone is entitled to feel safe in their homes," the judge said, adding Coyles repeatedly breached that.
