October 28, 2011

Woman house burglar jailed

By Anne Clarkson at the Rangiora Court House

Patricia Anne Aldridge woke some of her burglary victims as she rummaged through their bedrooms looking for valuable possessions.

The 46-year-old woman was jailed for three years nine months for burgling people from mid-May, when they were already vulnerable because of earthquake damage.

She was sentenced for 12 burglaries, and for possessing instruments for burglary, in the Christchurch District Court held at the Rangiora Court House.

Defence counsel Grant Tyrrell said the burglaries were not organised, and the amount of loss was about $1700.

He said Aldridge would like to attend a restorative justice conference with her victims, where she may find that the real impact of her wrongdoing may help her.

Crown prosecutor Nicola Robson said the invasion of residential homes at night, where the victims were vulnerable and sleeping, had had a psychological effect on them.

She said that determinate prison sentences were not deterring Aldridge, and asked for a minimum non-parole period of prison.

Judge David Saunders said some of the burglaries occurred while Aldridge was on parole for the same type of offending.

He said she was a high risk offender, even though she had already been through rehabilitation programmes.

The burglaries happened from mid-May this year where the victims were already vulnerable after earthquake damage, he said. She broke into people?s homes to ferret around looking for valuable items.

It was his clear duty to return a person who did not learn lessons back to an environment where they could continue to work on their issues, and for the safety of the community, and the protection of the public, he said.

He sentenced her to prison, and said that as Aldridge had a high risk rating and would not get parole at her first appearance he would not order a minimum non-parole period.

He declined to make a reparation order because she already owed reparation for burglaries committed earlier.