A serial thief who was confronted by a terrified Dundee mum as he rifled through her family’s belongings has been jailed for 25 months.
A court heard that the woman managed to talk Martin Blake who has 67 previous convictions into leaving her home quietly, as her children slept.
The mum of two shouted at the thief to get out after she heard him going through boxes of her possessions at her new home in the city in June.
However, she then managed to engage serial thief Blake in conversation and calmly asked him to write down his name for her.
Although he gave a false name, the woman spotted a tattoo on his wrist that bore the name of his girlfriend, Dundee Sheriff Court heard previously.
Once he left, police were contacted and Blake, 42, a prisoner at Perth, was traced a couple of hours later and arrested.
Blake admitted that on June 25, while on bail, he broke into the house and stole a camera and a quantity of boxes.
Depute fiscal Nicola Gillespie previously told the court of Blake’s extensive record before telling how the family had only been in the UK for a matter of weeks.
“The complainer and her two children had been sleeping at the rear of the house and the woman woke up and came through to the front of her home, hearing sounds like somebody raking through boxes,” the fiscal said.
“She looked through the window of the room and saw the accused going through the boxes which were on a shelf.
“She ran to the front door and opened it, shouting at him to leave.
“The accused said he was sorry for being there and said he had never done anything like that before.
“She was petrified but managed to talk to him to ensure that he didn’t cause her any injury.
“She got him to write down his name and although that was a false name, the complainer saw that he had the name Paula tattooed on his hand, near the wrist.
“The accused went and retrieved his jacket before leaving and police were called. Forensic officers found palm prints on the window and the accused was traced soon afterwards.”
Sentencing Blake, Sheriff George Way told him a prison sentence was “inevitable”.