THIEF 'SORRY'NOTE TO VICTIM..CAUGHT AFTER INCLUDING HIS NAME

[Daanyeer]

Guilt-ridden thief wrote 'sorry' note to victim...and was caught after including his name and address



By Daily Mail Reporter
23rd July 2010


A crook who stole a pensioner's purse was so racked with guilt that he returned the cash - with a note of apology.
Simon Crewe, 26, also added his name and and phone number which led police straight to him.

And sentencing him to two-and-a-half years in prison at Leicester Crown Court, Judge Sylvia De Bertodano said that by writing the letter he had in effect confessed.
Crewe posed as a window cleaner to steal from the 85-year-old widow's home in June, making off with £160. But he returned the money - plus £40 extra - along with the letter saying sorry.
'You paid the money back under cover of a letter, effectively turning yourself in,' the judge said.. 'I do accept that you were trying to make amends. Custody has to follow no matter how much remorse you feel.
'What makes this so bad is that someone elderly and vulnerable was targeted in their home.' Crewe was on license from a seven-year sentence when he carried out the burglary in June in the Knighton area of Leicester.
Prosecuting Alan Murphy said he had been carrying a ladder when he called at the elderly victim's home. The woman, who has not been named, assumed he was her window cleaner and, while she left him outside to go upstairs on her stairlift, he made off with her purse.
Mr Murphy continued: 'Eight days later he put a letter through the woman's door returning her money with an extra £40.
'Crewe said he was sorry and left a contact number. He later told the police he argued with his partner about money and went out looking for window cleaning work, but was tempted on seeing the purse.
'He said the victim was "a nice old lady". He immediately felt bad but was too scared to return it for several days, having burnt the the woman's purse and bus pass.
'The letter returning the money upset her even further and left her confused.'
Sally Bamford, defending , said her client would have got away with it - if not for the letter.
He had changed his behaviour since his last sentence, and become more sympathetic to victims of crime.
'It was an impulsive act and he did what he could to put the matter right,' she said. 'He handed himself in to the police and became emotional in interview. He takes full responsibility.'
Crewe was convicted of four distraction burglaries in 2004, with 47 similar offences taken into consideration.


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