He promised a judge he would change his ways but instead continued his ‘total commitment to crime’
The court heard Wesley Bradley, 21, had continued his “total commitment to crime”(Image: Merseyside Police)
A burglar told a judge “thank you boss” as he was jailed for breaking into an 80-year-old woman’s house. Wesley Bradley stole his victim’s car as he continued his “total commitment to crime”, being caught after his fingerprints were discovered within the vehicle.
But, in spite of the “horrible shock” he gave her, the pensioner magnanimously “hopes he chooses a better path in the future”. It came after the serial offender promised the same judge he would “move away from crime”, although he instead threw away the second chance he was handed.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Wednesday, that the OAP, who the ECHO has chosen not to name, went to bed shortly after 11.30pm on August 16 this year before waking at around 8am the following day. It was at this time that she noticed the front door of her home on Ambleside Road in Maghull ajar and her car missing from her driveway.
Iain Criddle, prosecuting, described how an intruder appeared to have broken into the property via a small downstairs window which had been left “slightly open overnight” before the keys to the vehicle were taken from the kitchen, with the contents of the complainant’s handbag also having been stolen. Bradley, of Kersey Walk in Kirkby, was meanwhile captured on CCTV outside her house at around 4am, with his fingerprints being discovered inside the car when it was subsequently recovered on August 19.
In a statement read to the court on her behalf, the victim detailed how she had previously lived in her home for 59 years without issue but had since been “left shaken and upset”, saying: “It was a horrible shock to find the door open, the car not there and my handbag missing. It is horrible to know that a stranger has been in my home while I was asleep upstairs.”
While she also said she “hopes the young person who did this realises the upset he’s caused”, she nevertheless “hopes he chooses a better path in the future”. Her statement added: “At 21, he has time to change his ways.”
Bradley thereafter went on to target another house, on Birchfield Street in Everton on September 22, entering at 1am and stealing a bank card, identity cards and a car from the driveway. The homeowner went on to say in his own statement he was awake at the time but “didn’t hear a noise or have any inkling” the burglary was occurring, while his 11-year-old daughter is now “scared at night” and “scared to be alone” as a result of the incident.
The defendant has 11 previous convictions for 40 offences since 2020, including appearances for robbery, burglary, possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply and dangerous driving. He was also handed a suspended three-month prison sentence in May this year for aggravated vehicle taking.
Bradley appeared in court this morning sporting a series of cuts around his left eye. Jason Smith, defending, said on his behalf: “Over the past four years, he has built up a record which is disgrace to him and shows a young man who has been totally committed to crime over that period.
“When one looks at Mr Bradley, perhaps it is indicative. He owed drug debts. He is in prison and has been assaulted recently. It shows in the markings, bruising and cuts to his face.
“It is not the first time he has been assaulted in HMP Liverpool. He is learning the hard way, for the first time in an adult prison, that things do not come to an end. He knows, if he carries on, then it will not be the last time either.”
Of the first victim personal statement, Mr Smith added: “He indicated this. He did not deserve those words. I think he was right when he made that observation.
“He simply wants to be sentenced, to move and to build a life in a different location. He is still a young man. He hopes he can move away from the life of crime that he has been leading for the past four years or more. That is very much up to him to achieve.”
Bradley admitted burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, two counts of possession of cannabis, relating to small quantities of the class B drug which were found in his possession on June 15 and July 1, and breaching a suspended sentence order. Having also asked for the second burglary to be taken into account, he was jailed for a total of 35 months.
Sentencing, Judge Anil Murray said: “You are building up a really serious record for a person as young as you. I have sentenced you myself a number of times, principally for offences linked to drug dealing.”
Of the suspended sentence he handed Bradley earlier this year, Judge Murray added: “You told me then, through your counsel, that you were going to move away from crime. Instead, you have moved on to new offending.
“[The 80-year-old woman]’s victim personal statement is remarkable. She says, on the one hand, she is shocked and that it is horrible to know a stranger has been in her house while she slept.
“She wants you to choose a better path for the future, which is incredibly dignified of her. She clearly did not know about your record of previous convictions. I would like to hope that her hope for the future is right, but I fear she won’t be.”
In relation to the second burglary, the judge said: “It had a huge effect on the family. They feel unsafe in their own house and the children are scared, all because of you wanting money for drugs or to pay off debts.
“In mitigation, you are still young, and that is about it really. You say that you committed these offences as you needed money or owed money for drugs. That is of no consolation to your victims.”
Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey Montirex t-shirt, Bradley responded to his sentence by saying: “How long was it? 35? Ok, thank you boss, thank you.”