Bungling burglar left betting slip

A bungling burglar was on a loser when he dropped a betting slip during a raid in Wolverhampton, a court heard.

The tell-tale piece of paper was found lying on the floor after the gang of thieves fled and had a set of fingerprints on it. These were quickly matched with those of Nicholas Wilcox, of Ashley Street in Bilston, who had a previous conviction for burglary and was arrested soon afterwards.

The victim, a single mother, was in hospital at the time the 21-year-old struck last October, prosecutor Miss Kanwal Juss told Wolverhampton Crown Court. She said: "Her father was making regular checks and returned to find there had been an untidy search of the property.

"He realised that the betting slip had not been there before and when traced, Wilcox confirmed he had lost it."

Hundreds of pounds worth of property including mobiles phones, a game console, camcorder and lap-top computer were stolen in the raid, carried out by Wilcox and several others he refused to identify.

In a victim impact statement read to the court yesterday, the woman whose house was targeted said: "I felt upset and angry about the burglary which has had a great impact on my two children.

"The computer had been a 16th birthday present for my daughter. I am a single parent who had to work hard to buy for those goods."

Wilcox, who admitted burglary, insisted he had not taken any of the stolen items, claiming he had acted as lookout and took part in the crime for the "buzz."

Miss Paula Bignall, defending, admitted: "The explanation given by him is entirely reprehensible and unattractive."

Jailing him for a year, Recorder Oscar Del Fabbro told Wilcox: "These courts are expected to protect the public at large from people like you and in your case, the only way to do that is to take you off the scene."