Prolific Hackney burglar who crept into house while owner was home is jailed

A prolific burglar has been jailed for more than three years after a string of thefts carried out to fuel her drug addiction.

Ashleigh Brennan, 32, pleaded guilty to two burglaries and five offences of fraud by false representation at Wood Green Crown Court on Thursday.

At 8am on June 30, 2016, she climbed through a first floor sash window at an address in Beatty Road, Stoke Newington, and crept into a bedroom while the victim was in another part of the house.

She nicked two mobile phones and a purse with cards in and then used them at nearby shops throughout the morning.

Brennan, of no fixed address, was at it again on July 19 last year when she pinched a man’s mobile and wallet from Bar Kick in Shoreditch High Street.

Two days later she asked to use the toilet in Brew for Two Cafe, Morning Lane, before going downstairs into the staff room and pinching handbags and coats containing purses.

Brennan, who was already in prison for another string of burglaries, was charged after being recognised by officers on CCTV. She was sentenced to three years and three months in jail.

Det Insp Paul Ridley from Hackney CID said: “Brennan is a prolific burglar who has shown no regard to the persons she has targeted, her sole aim was to obtain drugs to feed her addiction.

“I hope that this sentence sends out a message that offences of this nature will not be tolerated.”