Serial offender Steven Salt should have been jailed for longer after Northwood raid says victim Lee Roberts
A PUB landlord has welcomed the jailing of a prolific burglar who sneaked into his home and stole hundreds of pounds worth of possessions.
Lee Roberts was asleep in his flat above The Cat Inn in Northwood when serial thief Steven Salt raided the property.
The burglar, who has committed 108 previous offences, slipped into the pub through a window before escaping with a £500 laptop, mobile phone, keys and tobacco.
Mr Roberts's 16-year-old daughter's handbag was also taken, along with a handful of cash.
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Now the landlord has welcomed the jail sentence of four years and four months that was handed to Salt, pictured below.
But the 41-year-old said he believes the sentence should have been even longer.
He said: "For 108 offences it only amounts to a few weeks for each one doesn't it? I think it should have been longer.
"But fair play to the police for the way they dealt with this.
"One of the officers identified him from the CCTV and I got a phone call straight away to say he had been arrested.
"Someone came in and asked me his name and it turned out he had burgled their house as well." Salt burgled the Keelings Road pub on June 1, after Mr Roberts and his daughter went to sleep at 11pm.
Mr Roberts woke at 6am to discover a window on the landing was open, and footprints nearby. CCTV showed the 34-year-old burglar in and around the pub between 2am and 3am.
He was arrested the following day.
"I didn't discover what had happened until the morning when I found one of the windows had been forced," Mr Roberts said.
"He had got into the living quarters. It's a violation really. Down here in the pub anyone can come in, but upstairs is the family home.
"It's frightening when you have your 16-year-old daughter at home at the time." Salt, of St Ann's Street, Hanley, pleaded guilty to burglary.
He also pleaded guilty to a charge of handling stolen goods from another burglary – an offence he committed while on bail following the Cat Inn burglary.
A stolen laptop was found under a bed at Salt's home. He tried to claim he was looking after it for someone.
Judge Paul Glenn sentenced Salt to three-and-a-half years for the burglary and a further 10 months for handling the stolen goods at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Monday.
He told Salt: "You have a pretty appalling record. The offence in June was your first burglary for four years. But it seems when you hit difficulties you resort to that sort of behaviour.
"This was a nocturnal burglary when the property was occupied. There was potential for confrontation. You took property of significant value."
Salt's long list of previous offences includes helping to steal items worth £3,500 from a house in Meir Hay while the occupant was on holiday.
Along with two other men, Salt was spotted moving items from the house – including a laptop computer and a flat-screen television – from a black VW Golf to two addresses in Longton.
Salt was jailed for three-and-a-half years for that burglary in August 2008.
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