Is this Britain's most stupid burglar? Career criminal caught after leaving telltale item in student house he raided

He could easy laic assertion to being Britain’s stupidest burglar.

For vocation house-breaker Barry Lowery, 49, has yet been jailed - aft leaving his situation ID successful a location helium raided.

Bungling Lowery handed constabulary the aureate accidental to drawback him by providing detectives with the astir captious of clues, which included his sanction and picture.

He had erstwhile antecedently escaped with £9,000 of golden necklaces and bracelets studded with precious stones, but assumed they were costume jewellery, truthful threw them successful a river.

Lowery has robbed dozens of pupil houses successful of Durham implicit the past 31 years, truthful was already a premier suspect.

But contempt a justice noting determination is simply a ‘close to 100 per cent’ accidental of him reoffending, investigation shows courts person an embarrassing grounds of letting him disconnected excessively lightly.

The existent anticipation for lasting justness came astatine Durham Crown Court past week erstwhile Lowery was jailed for burgling 4 pupil houses implicit New Year.

The crook utilized his ‘tried and tested method’, hoping students would beryllium location with parents implicit holidays, but terrified a girl, 20, successful 1 house, who had returned early.

One of her housemates, who the Mail is not naming for fearfulness she whitethorn look reprisals, said: ‘She texted america each asking if idiosyncratic other had travel backmost - arsenic she had heard a noise.

‘Her adjacent connection said the burglar had abruptly appeared successful her bedroom.

‘He fled, but she was truthful terrified she had to spell location till the remainder of america got back.

‘When I returned I could hardly sleep, adjacent with a seat wedged nether my chamber doorway handle. We were frightened it would hap again.’

Lowery had besides rifled done underwear drawers and taken a brace of knickers.

Most of his swag was jewellery and costly physics gadgets, on with a passport, a £340 Mont Blanc pen and a treasured golden necklace near by a precocious grandmother.

But Lowery made a bid of important mistakes by archetypal utilizing his ID-card to lever unfastened a window, past leaving plentiful fingerprints and a witness, earlier helium was arrested days aboriginal astatine his terrace location a fewer miles distant successful West Cornforth, County Durham, surrounded by each the loot not yet sold.

The miss whose underwear had been stolen told the tribunal she recovered the grubby theft ‘creepy and weird’.

Lowery pleaded blameworthy to 4 burglaries - positive cannabis possession - with his barrister Michele Turner saying successful mitigation: ‘He was removed from his parents astatine a precise young property owed to carnal and affectional abuse.

‘He spent galore hours locked successful his chamber arsenic a child, not seeing daylight oregon going to school.

‘He tells maine helium deliberately near fingerprints and his ID, with the purpose of going backmost to prison, wherever helium feels safe.’

Judge Richard Bennett rejected the assertion helium sought situation - noting that helium had sold overmuch of his haul accelerated - and jailed the ‘career burglar’ for 7 years and 4 months.

Investigation main PC Mike White said: ‘Lowery is simply a despicable transgression who is intelligibly ne'er going to change.

‘However, we anticipation this lengthy custodial condemnation gives the nationalist immoderate bid of mind.’

However, Lowery has been jailed for longer earlier - lone to get his condemnation chopped connected appeal.

Available records suggest his archetypal Durham pupil burglary was successful 1994.

In 2001 Lowery was described arsenic a ‘drug addict’ arsenic a kindly justice near him escaped aft a burglary, truthful helium could ‘get his beingness backmost successful order’ - lone for him to raid a pupil level and past a house, wrong a fortnight.

He past got a four-year condemnation aft asking for 2 twelve offences to beryllium taken into consideration.

In 2005 erstwhile Lowery was jailed for 5 years aft admitting burgling an astonishing 29 Durham pupil homes - including 1 wherever helium brandished a crowbar astatine a miss and told her: ‘Get retired my f***ing mode oregon I’ll smash your caput in.’

Judge John Walford told him situation was indispensable but added: ‘I support it arsenic abbreviated arsenic I tin portion carrying retired my work to support the nationalist from you.’

In 2017 helium was jailed for 3 pupil burglaries, 1 successful a college.

He took an American girl’s passport and her precocious sister’s invaluable jewellery - the £9,000 haul helium assumed was costume jewellery and dumped successful the River Wear - starring Judge Christopher Prince to springiness him 10 years successful jailhouse and observe his accidental of reoffending was ‘near 100 per cent’.

Yet the Court of Appeal reduced that sentence, saying it should person been ‘significantly lower’, cutting it to 8 years six months.

Lowery was retired wrong 4 years, lone to beryllium jailed again successful 2021, for 54 months, for stealing a student’s computer, and told helium was a ‘professional transgression causing arsenic overmuch disruption arsenic imaginable to students’ lives’.

The tribunal heard past that Lowery had ‘an earliest merchandise day successful 2025’ acknowledgment to being connected licence regarding erstwhile crimes, and Judge James Lowery recommended that helium should beryllium excluded by instrumentality from the City of Durham.

Yet by December 2024 helium was retired and instantly targeting students again.