Burglar who left family in ‘emotional turmoil’ after forcing way into their home as they slept arrested after being spotted in Deeping St James

A burglar who forced his way into a family home while the occupants, including a child, slept upstairs has been jailed - after an off duty police segeant spotted him in Lincolnshire.

Wayne McKie, 46, was caught on the home’s CCTV system climbing in into the house before leaving with two bags, one which contained a laptop, Samsung tablet and various tools, the other containing children’s items including clothing, toys and emergency medication.

McKie, of no fixed abode, was arrested after being spotted in Deeping St James by an off-duty police sergeant, following the incident where he forced open a ground-floor window of a house in Winchester Way, Thorpe Meadows, Peterborough.

Cameras picked him up at about 2.20am on June 22 and CCTV footage was passed to Cambridgeshire Police the following day which was reviewed by the Acquisitive Crime Team who immediately recognised McKie, having dealt with him for similar offences in the past.

On June 26 he was seen in Deeping St James by one of the team’s sergeants who was off duty, so immediately contacted his colleagues who found and arrested McKie in Lincoln Road, Northborough.

McKie appeared at Peterborough Crown Court yesterday (Thursday) where he admitted a charge of burglary including theft and was sentenced to a year and ten months in prison.

Detective Constable Matt Reed, who investigated, said: “The effect McKie’s actions have had on the victims cannot be underestimated – understandably they have been left in what they have described as ‘emotional turmoil’ and feeling unsafe in their own home, no one should ever be made to feel this way.”