The dumbest burglar in Britain? Crook steals next-door neighbour's curtains... then hangs them in his window

A burglar who stole his next-door neighbour’s net curtains was caught when he put them up in his own window, a court was told.

Jason Williams was jailed for two years and five months after admitting his fourth burglary.

The 38-year-old was rumbled when the neighbours went to his home and asked him why he had got their net curtains.

Busted: Burglar Jason Williams, 38, stole his next-door neighbour's net curtains and hung them up in his own window in Slough, Berkshire

The crime was described as 'not very sophisticated' by the defendant’s own barrister.

Elizabeth Lowe, prosecuting, told the court the neighbour had moved out of the property and left only a few items inside.

Williams broke down boarding on the home in Slough, Berkshire, and stole the net curtains, tools, two glass ashtrays and some lamb steaks from the freezer.

'The person at the address had moved out because of an earlier burglary which was nothing to do with this defendant at all,' Miss Lowe said.

'They had boards up as a result of having left some items inside of not very much value.

'They had last checked on May 6 and on May 8 a neighbour had said it looked to him that the boards had been disturbed.

'In the next door flat they noticed that their net curtains were hanging there.'

However, the defendant denied that it was anything to do with him - but could not say how he got the net curtains, a judge at Reading Crown Court was told.

He later confessed to the crime in police interviews and admitted burglary when he appeared before magistrates court.

Alastair Smith, defending, said that it had merely been an 'opportunistic' crime.

'The fact that this defendant went on to place the curtains in his own window shows a lack of sophistication and realisation of the seriousness of the offence,' he said.

'If he realised it could lead to three years in custody he might have taken more time to consider his actions.'

The defendant, who has battled alcoholism and drug addiction, has 28 previous convictions for 76 offences dating back to 1985, the court was told.

Judge Gordon Risius jailed Williams for two years and five months under the 'three strikes' rule because it was his fourth burglary of a dwelling.

He told Williams: 'You knew what had been going on there and took advantage of the situation.

'Your guilty plea means you have been convicted for the fourth time of a domestic burglary and, in the circumstances, the law requires a sentence of at least three years imprisonment unless it would be unjust.

'While I have taken into account that the last of your burglaries was in 2004, some six years ago, you have offended in a number of ways since 2004.

'There are no circumstances in your case which would take the normal minimum sentence unjust. The fact that it would have been opportunistic in nature does not justify a different view.'

He gave Williams credit for his guilty plea and took into account the time he had spent in custody on remand.