‘Third-striker’ burglar Justin Lake who broke into Swaffham premises jailed

A burglar who admitted a drunken break-in he could not remember has been jailed.

Justin Lake, 20, of HMP Brinsford near Wolverhampton, had been staying at a hotel in Swaffham when he was found and questioned by police in relation to a break-in which took place in Norwich.

It was here that documents were found linking him to two other offences.

One of the offences was a house burglary in London Street in Swaffham between March 6 to 7 last year where he stole bank cards and a bicycle.

The other was in relation to stealing bank cards from a vehicle on Kensington Place in Norwich.

These were taken into consideration by Norwich Crown Court at his sentencing on September 4.

After these offences, Lake broke into a house in Terrace Walk, Norwich, on March 8 last year taking a ring and two credit cards.

During police questioning, he accepted that forensic evidence placed him at the scene but that he was too drunk to remember and likely just wanted more cash to carry on with his drinking spree.

He was jailed on March 27 last year for unrelated offences and it was while in prison that he was visited by staff investigator Duncan Etchells and questioned about the Norfolk offences which he admitted.

As a third-striker – someone who has been convicted of burglary on at least three occasions including at least once as an adult - he was handed a mandatory sentence of 876 days, just under two years and five months.