Derry burglar Identified by DNA on vodka bottle in stolen car jailed
Defendant with 104 convictions left forensic evidence on vodka bottle in stolen Nissan.
Derry Crown Court has been told that the DNA of a man was found on an empty Vodka bottle in the footwell of a car he'd stolen following a domestic burglary.
The defendant, Ryan McLaughlin, 38, from Glenabbey Road in the city pleaded guilty to the burglary of a house at Meehan's Terrace, stealing car keys and a Nissan Qashqai car and driving without insurance.
McLaughlin, who committed the offences on December 16, 2024, had 104 previous criminal convictions, several of them for burglaries.
A prosecution barrister told Judge Roseanne McCormick KC that in the early hours of December 16, 2024, McLaughlin entered the house through an unlocked back door. He was accompanied by another man and both were recorded on ring door bell footage from a neighbouring house.
McLaughlin stole the keys and car, valued at £1,000, and drove it to a car park at Foyle Road. He was seen by members of a passing police patrol working on the offside front tyre.
His clothing matched the description of the clothing of the man recorded on the ring door bell footage and he was arrested after he threw the keys of the car under the vehicle.
Inside the car the police found the empty Vodka bottle and when it was forensically examined McLaughlin's DNA was found on it and on the steering wheel.
The prosecutor said an aggravating feature of the case was that the householder was in bed at the time of the burglary.
A pre-sentence report prepared for the sentencing hearing stated that McLaughlin had "gone off the rails" following the ending of a long term relationship.
The report's author also stated that McLaughlin has been assessed as being a high likelihood re-offender based on his previous convictions, his substance abuse and because he had "a pro-criminal attitude".
Judge McCormick said she took in consideration that the car was returned undamaged to its owner and that the sentencing in the case had been delayed as a result of the now resolved industrial action by defence barristers. She said it was a strong prosecution case.
"This was opportunistic offending in the form of a creeper burglary. Such burglaries are unsettling for any householder to live with the aftermath of a creeper burglary such as this", she added.
McLaughlin was jailed for three years.