Bangor,North Wales - Man leaves mobile with pictures of himself at house he burgled

Published date: 01 April 2016 | 

Published by: Staff reporter
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HOPELESS burglar Nigel Mattox left behind a vital clue when he tried to steal from a Bangor house – his mobile phone which contained photographs of himself.

A man who confronted him in the middle of the night later went through the photographs and recognised the man he had seen leaving his home.

Police were able to Mattox, aged 41, of Caernarfon Road in Bangor, and he was arrested.

He admitted burglary at a house in Tan y Graig in Bangor in the early hours one day last June – but escaped an immediate prison sentence.

At Mold Crown Court he was given a two year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and placed on an 18 month drug rehabilitation programme with monthly reviews by a judge.

Judge Geraint Walters told him that he could have no complaint if he was sent to prison for two years.

He had been responsible for a walk-in burglary late at night which had a profound effect on the occupants – so much so that they had considered selling up and moving.

“It is not a crime against property – it is a crime against people. 

Someone like you snooping around in the dead of night leaves its mark,” he said.

The judge told Mattox that he had seen that the defendant himself had been burgled recently.

“Good feeling was it?” he asked. “No.”

He had done it because he was addicted to heroin and he had a poor record.

But he had decided to give him a chance – but whether he took it was up to him. If he breached the order then he would be returned to prison and jailed.

Prosecuting barrister Paulinus Barnes told how victim Vincent Sellers was at home when he heard a noise downstairs and went to investigate.

“He went to the back door to see if there was anyone there and he saw a male – this defendant – crouching down by the kitchen window.

“The defendant was holding a handbag which he recognised as belonging to his partner.”

He said Mattox was going through the purse he had taken out of the handbag and Mr Sellers challenged him and took hold of his collar.

But the defendant shouted “get your hands off me”, shrugged him off – and the phoneand a play station game fell to the ground.

Mattox began to walk off still holding the bag saying “All I have stolen is six quid”.

But he then said: “f... it, you can have everything back” and threw the items he had taken back over the rear fence.

When Mr Sellers went through the phone he found a photograph of the man and when he went to the police station an officer recognised it as Mattox.

Arrested and interviewed, he claimed that he had been home all night with his girlfriend.

He claimed to have lost his phone five days earlier but it had been used at the time of the burglary, the prosecutor explained.

John Wyn Williams, defending, said that his client had been assessed as being suitable for drugs rehabilitation.

While in custody on remand he had undergone a number of courses and was motivated to change.

see-http://www.northwaleschronicle.co.uk/news/160497/man-leaves-mobile-with-pictures-of-himself-at-house-he-burgled.aspx