Burglar caught in the act offered to help householder redecorate his home

A burglar offered to help a householder redecorate his house as he burgled it, York Crown Court heard.

Nick Adlington, prosecuting, said the startled occupant declined Guy David Osguthorpe’s offer when the two came face to face in the kitchen at 1.30pm on July 18 and walked him out of the house before he could steal anything, and called police. A neighbour had spotted Osguthorpe “lurking around” outside the house shortly beforehand and police caught the burglar nearby.



He had left bloodstains as he climbed through a window. Osguthorpe, 43, formerly of Acomb, admitted burgling a house in Holgate, norh Yorkshire. He has previous convictions for attempted robbery and burglary. Jailing him for eight months, Judge Neil Davey QC told Osguthorpe: “It was a bizarre offence.

“No doubt the householder was as surprised as he could possibly be to be interrupted in the redecorating of his bathroom to find you there, full of a cocktail of drugs, not for the first time in your life.” Chris Dunn, for Osguthorpe, said it was an opportunistic crime and his client who’d had enough of committing crimes wanted to “sort himself out”.