Newcastle burglar jailed after leaving fingerprints on stolen Jack Daniel's bottles

A burglar has been jailed after he left fingerprints all over expensive alcohol and designer clothes which he had stole from a man’s home.

Michael Dabbs’ victim returned to his property in the Shields Road area of Newcastle on the evening of 31 July last year to find the burglar in his hallway.

After he was challenged about why he was in the house, Dabbs falsely claimed someone was upstairs and made off from the scene.

Following a search of the home, it emerged several Jack Daniel's whiskey bottles, amounting to about £2,000, and a Ralph Lauren jacket had been taken.

Several items were recovered and a laboratory analysis revealed Dabbs' fingerprints and DNA on them. His fingerprints were also found on the door of the house.

Dabbs pleaded not guilty but was convicted of the offence following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

On Tuesday 27 June, Dabbs, formerly of Wardroper House, Walker, who has previous convictions for related offences, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison.

Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Stuart Taylor, of Northumbria Police’s high impact team, said: “Dabbs is a serial burglar and shoplifter and we are pleased that he is now behind bars.

“No one in our communities should have to put up with his criminality, which is why when we investigated this latest crime and the evidence strongly linked him to it, we were determined to get him before the courts and see justice served.

“Our forensic services department work tirelessly in assisting investigations such as this and I’d like to thank them for their help in uncovering that Dabbs was the culprit in this case.

“This helped speed up the process of identifying Dabbs, getting him charged and before the courts.

“We are always using technology at our disposal to bring offenders to justice and will continue to do so.

Det Con Taylor added: “We would like to reassure the public that we have a dedicated burglary team tasked with reviewing all break-ins across Northumbria, who analyse patterns of behaviour and work hand-in-hand with our neighbourhood and response teams to tackle any areas of concern which arise.

“As always, we would continue to ask those in our communities to get in touch if you see anybody acting suspiciously, as this helps us to build an intelligence picture and identify offenders.”

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...