Bizarre case of boozed-up burglar

THE case of a drunken burglar was one of the most bizarre scenarios a judge said he had come across.

Connor Whalen had drunk up to 15 pints before he targeted a house only a minute’s walk from his own home — and he knew the occupant, who had been at the same school with him.

Whalen (19), was caught outside the property in Day Drive in Failsworth just before midnight on June 9 and told to clear off by the homeowner, who did not immediately realise he had been burgled. Whalen made an excuse and asked for a light for his cigarette, but was so inebriated that he did not have the sense to leave.

Seconds later he knocked at the door, and then attacked householder Anthony Seddon.

He first threatened to stab him, and during a scuffle in which Mr Seddon ended up on the ground, he repeatedly punched him.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court was told that Whalen, from Birch Avenue, Failsworth, was arrested and later told police he could remember nothing of the break in.

Sentencing him, Recorder William Waldron QC told him: “In 25 years at the Bar, I have never known a burglar who tried to get back into a house after being told in no uncertain terms to go away, and that suggests to me that alcohol is a major part of your problem.”

Whalen was handed a six months sentence at a young offenders’ institution suspended for 12 months. He had spent six weeks in custody after being arrested.