An Oldham burglar sparked fury today after claiming he carried out 30 raids just because he was BORED.
Layabout teenager Ryan Legge, 19, was locked away for four years earlier today after he looted victim’s homes in Royton and Chadderton for pleasure to ‘alleviate’ his humdrum life.
In a two-year crime spree, Legge stole champagne, a number of cars and even a pug dog valued at more than £1,300.
He targeted properties with unlocked doors or open windows usually when the occupants were asleep in bed or watching TV.
In many cases, he also stole the household car using keys left on open view.
Jobless Legge was arrested after his fingerprints were found on property stolen from a home in Royton, near Oldham, Greater Manchester.
He later claimed he was motivated into burglary by the ‘need to alleviate boredom’ rather than to fund a luxury lifestyle. He claimed his criminal behaviour was ‘grafting.’
However, pictures on a Facebook page showed Legge larking about with friends posing with champagne and vodka and other showed him bare-chested and flexing his muscles as well as posing with a glamorous female friend.
Legge’s victims reacted with anger to his excuses after he was sentenced earlier today at Minshull Street Crown Court.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of burglary and a further count of taking a vehicle without consent – and asked for 34 other offences to be taken into consideration, including 28 burglaries.
Post office worker Trish Clune, 46, who had her Vauxhall Astra stolen in a raid on her home in Chadderton, Oldham, said after the hearing: “I think his excuse is disgusting. I have never been burgled before and it was absolutely terrible.
“These people want their fingers chopped off.
“If they are that bored then go and find a job like most folk- not rob people’s houses. My son is 20 and he has a job. It was devastating – it took me a long time to get over it.”
She added: ”This boy and his mate took the Vauxhall Astra and also the keys for the other two cars and then they tried to return for those.
“It’s incredible to think they had the cheek to come back round the corner afterwards. It’s just lucky someone saw them and they ran off.
“Being burgled is a horrible experience and the worst bit is not necessarily having something taken. It’s the fact is we had an intruder invading our house.
“To say he was bored is no excuse whatsoever.”
Earlier the court heard how, during the burglary spree, householders were awoken in the early hours to find they had been burgled.
At one house, a Citroen C4 was stolen and the homeowners knew nothing of the break-in until the next morning.
In another raid on the home of a couple, their son-in-law, who lived in the house opposite, spotted two men in the garden, one filling a bag with bottles of champagne and spirits.
A pug dog was also stolen but later recovered.
In mitigation for Legge his counsel Ben Knight said his client got a ”kick” out of joyriding in stolen vehicles which were always recovered undamaged.
Mr Knight added: “He was motivated by a need to alleviate boredom rather than to fund an extravagant lifestyle.
“The houses were not ransacked and the methods of breaking in were opportunistic and unsophisticated.”
Legge’s accomplice Alex Riley, 22, was found guilty by a jury of two charges of burglary and two offences of taking vehicles without consent. He was also jailed for four years.
Both men were each ordered to pay £120 victim surcharges.
Judge Jeffrey Lewis told them: ”You’re not afraid of entering houses at night when they are occupied yet you have not got the faintest idea of the devastation that can be caused by your actions.
“You both have formidable records and are seriously at risk of spending a great deal of your adult lives in custody.”
Legge’s family have since moved out of their home in the Fitton Hill area of Oldham. A neighbour said: “They weren’t here that long but it sounds like we are well-rid.”
Inset image courtesy of Facebook, with thanks.
