A PROLIFIC offender is back behind bars after he admitted to breaking into a man’s home and stealing a child’s bank card.

Gerald McBlain, of James Street in Barrow, attempted to buy a box of chocolates with the stolen bank card which belonged to the complainant’s 12-year-old son, Preston Crown Court heard.  

Opening the case, prosecutor India Woods said the burglary took place at an address on Montague Street, Barrow, between the hours of 05:00 am and 6:45 pm on April 14 this year whilst the complainant was away from the property.

Ms Woods said the complainant left the house fully locked and secure, but when he returned, he noticed the kitchen window was open and that the laundry basket had been knocked over.

The prosecution said the complainant went to his back yard where he noticed that his two wheelie bins had been moved and that items had been left on the bench.

The court was told the complainant then found that clothes and items had been ripped out of drawers in the bedroom and bathroom upstairs.

Ms Woods said the complainant rang his partner to inform her of the situation, who told him she had just received an attempted transaction notification from her son’s Revolut account on her phone at 6:45 pm.

The court heard McBlain – aged 43 - had attempted to purchase Cadbury’s milk tray chocolates costing £7.49 from a newsagent in Barrow, but the card had declined due to insufficient funds in the account.

McBlain was arrested the next day.

The complainant’s victim impact statement was read into the court record by the prosecution.

In summary, the victim said that the defendant’s actions had made him more self-conscious of his home security and that it had impacted his ability to work.

The court was told McBlain had amassed 61 convictions for 138 offences – including five previous offences for burglary.

In mitigation, his barrister Alex Beevers said his client had broken into the wrong property.

Mr Beevers said: “He was looking to break into the house of an individual who he had lent money for drugs

"He thought he was burgling the targeted home, but he soon realised he had got the wrong property. He saw it as an opportunity and he stole a bank card and a jacket belonging to a 12-year-old.

“He was very much on the right path since his release from prison and was working in Thomas’s Bakery until he bumped into old associates.

“He is a prolific offender. He wishes to tell the court he knows he should have known better and that he is genuinely remorseful for his behaviour.

“He feels he has let down his father who works as an engineer and his stepmother who is a lawyer.”

On July 26, Her Honour Judge Sara Dodd jailed McBlain for 876 days after he pleaded guilty to burglary dwelling in theft – no violence, and fraud by false representation.

Before passing sentence, Judge Dodd said: “This burglary had a very profound effect on the complainant and his family. It is for those reasons that burglary is taken so seriously by the court.

“People work hard to maintain their homes. They are entitled when they shut their doors to feel safe. People like you cause all sorts of emotional harm to families.