‘Career’ burglar is sent back behind bars again

Liam Jackson committed his first burglary at the age of 12 and has clocked up 39 convictions for burglary - although he is still only 30 years old.

He has now been given another four years in jail after he broke into three houses in Doncaster within hours to try and raise cash to pay off loan sharks.

Jailing him at Doncaster Crown Court, Recorder Martin Bethel told Jackson: “I don’t remember ever seeing a record as bad as this and I have seen some bad ones over the last 45 years.”

Jackson’s first target on June 16 this year was a home in Tickhill Road, from where he stole a laptop computer and cash.

The householder also lost a St Christopher medallion which belonged to her grandfather.

Jackson is then thought to have raided a four-bedroomed detached home, belonging to a bank manager, at Ash Court Drive in Balby.

Jewellery including watches, a bangle, earrings and a gold chain were stolen, along with cash.

His third target was the home of a magistrate, also in Balby.

The householder was watching television when the burglar alarm sounded and he noticed an unlocked back door had been pushed open.

Jackson was caught in the kitchen and claimed he needed to pump up the back tyre on his mountain bike.

Jackson, of Dryden Road, Balby, was arrested three weeks later after his fingerprint was found on a jewellery box. He admitted all three burglaries.

The court heard he has been convicted of 59 offences and given spells in custody by judges at Sheffield, Doncaster and Grimsby dating back to 1998.

Recorder Bethel said Jackson had a “staggeringly bad record” and had been committing crimes with “depressing regularity” since the age of 12.

He said of the victims: “What you have done is to undermine their happiness in their own homes for many years, if not for the rest of their lives.

“They will never feel as secure in their own homes ever again.

“The public must be protected from you for a considerable time.”