A WOMAN who texted her vulnerable victim to apologise after burgling his sheltered accommodation flat has been spared an immediate jail sentence. 

Stacey Ross, 35, of Ferndale Grove, Frizinghall, Bradford, was on licence when she made an untidy search of the Manningham address and took £500 cash, two Amazon Alexas, keys and a washing basket on August 1. 

Bradford Crown Court heard that she had three convictions for house burglary 18 years ago and had since served jail sentences for assault. 

She pleaded guilty at the first opportunity at the magistrates’ court to the burglary at a complex for the elderly.  

The court heard that she climbed a wall, found the key and got in through the back door while the occupant was away. She searched the address to take the cash and items totalling £150. 

Ross left in a taxi with the stolen property in the washing basket. 

The man returned home to find his flat turned upside down and the money and other items missing. 

He recognised Ross on the CCTV system, saying he had seen her at the local shops. 

A week after the burglary, she sent him a text apologising, stating ‘I’ve never felt so bad in my life.’ 

Ross then rang the police and confessed to committing the offence. 

She had 23 previous convictions for 34 offences and was on licence at the time after serving a jail sentence for assault. 

Saf Salam said in mitigation that Ross had apologised to her victim and was pressured into committing the offence. She knew he wasn’t at home at the time.  

She had since engaged enthusiastically with projects to help her with her mental health problems and the substance misuse that motivated her offending. 

Ross had been abused, run over and seriously injured in the past. She suffered from PTSD, anxiety and depression.  

Judge Colin Burn said it was a mean offence of burglary. The victim had befriended her and that was why she was so remorseful. 

He was to a degree a vulnerable person and it was a breach of confidence and trust because she knew how to get in. 

She had apologised by text some eight days later and that meant she could be traced as the culprit. The next day she reported that she had committed the burglary and was arrested. 

Ross was sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with up to 55 rehabilitation activity days.