Muddy boots trap builder who burgled employer's Ponteland home

Jan 18 2010 by Rob Kennedy and Dave Black, The Journal

A BUILDING worker abused his position of trust to steal from the family who employed him.

Karl Quigley had been hired to help build a new house for Philip Morris on the grounds of his plush home in Darras Hall, Ponteland.

But while the old house was left empty sneak thief Quigley broke in and stole from the property.

He then tried to cover his tracks but the muddy footprints he left all over the place were a dead giveaway.

Jordan Morris, Philip’s son, who was living in the house at the time of the burglary, said in a statement to Newcastle Crown Court: “I feel violated that someone can be in my home searching through my personal things and taking my property.”

Quigley, 26, of Whittingham Road, Newbiggin Hall, Newcastle, was part of a team working on the new house on Darras Hall Road, last summer .

Mr Morris Jnr, a student, was living in the older property while the new one was being built with his partner and two other people.

On August 11, they were all out and Quigley seized his opportunity to break in.

He stole the replica BB gun and an XBox game and caused £250 damage in the break-in.

Quigley admitted burglary and was jailed for 35 weeks, suspended for 12 months, with supervision and 100 hours’ unpaid work.

Recorder Henry Prosser told him: “You were able to identify the property because of your work at the time. You’ve now lost that work and have got yourself in a mess.

“I’m prepared to regard this was opportunistic and accept you are now a person with a history of burglary.”

Jonathan Pigford, defending: “He is now unemployed and the difficulty he has is explaining how he lost his last job and that is going to cause considerable difficulties. He was with this company for five years.”

Yesterday Jordan Morris, 22, who has now finished his university course and is working in a bar before going travelling for a year, said other property had been taken from the house, including XBox games and a £500 watch, but was never recovered.

“I was away on holiday at the time so the impact on me was mainly financial. A lot of stuff was taken and I had to fork out to replace it.

“You don’t really expect someone you employ to steal from you, so it was upsetting. To be honest I was not expecting him to be sent to jail because I don’t think he was a repeat offender. I think he maybe should have got something more than just doing unpaid work but you don’t really expect the courts to dish out really harsh sentences when the prisons are full.’’

Jordan’s friend Jonathon Fraser-Prinn, who was one of two people living in the house at the time of the burglary, said: “I got a call late in the evening to say we had been broken into, and one of the things taken was a watch which I got for my 18th birthday.

“There was a financial impact but we also found that for the next two weeks we didn’t feel safe leaving the house at all, because of what had happened.’’