Twenty-year-old with seven house burglaries on record locked up for three 'two in one' break-ins of Hartlepool and Ingleby Barwick homes

At just 20 years of age Brandon Alderson already has seven house burglaries on his criminal record.

He was sentenced for three so-called two-in-one burglaries and four vehicle thefts when he appeared at Teesside Crown Court in custody on Monday.

The most recent was on March 19 this year when he and another man travelled to a quiet Seaton Carew cul-de-sac by car and broke into a house through the patio window at 3.30am.

Ian West, prosecuting, said: “They entered the home of a retired couple who were asleep in bed.”

The next morning, they found their £12,000 Kia Rio was gone after the car keys together with other sets were stolen from the house.

The homeowner said he had been left feeling very vulnerable, adding: “I feel violated that someone has come into my house.”

The judge, Recorder Andrew Smith, told Alderson: “You simply weren’t bothered. This was simply a house you thought you could get away burgling.”

Police found Alderson hiding in a loft at an address in Kendal Road, Hartlepool, the same day.

When an officer tried to open the hatch, Alderson kicked him to the head and swung an electric cable at him.

He was also sentenced for two similar burglaries in Ingleby Barwick in December 2020 when three vehicles – a Ford Fiesta, Hyundai and Vauxhall – were stolen.

One belonged to an NHS keyworker who had worked during the peak of the pandemic.

In November 2021 Alderson was arrested on suspicion of another burglary in Hartlepool where a car was stolen during a confrontation.

He denied the offence but admitted handling stolen goods after the key to the car was found in his bedroom just three hours after the vehicle was stolen.

Kelleigh Lodge, defending, said in mitigation, Alderson struggled being brought up in care and had got involved with older criminals.

She said he had matured and was “genuinely sorry” to his victims.

Alderson, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 44 months of youth detention after also admitting three counts of burglary, four vehicle thefts, and assaulting an emergency worker.