Caught burglar claimed he was ‘just lying down’

A court has heard how a Birkdale man returning to his home mid- morning to collect a wheelbarrow disturbed a burglar trying to break into his house.

Glen Preston, 48, of Stonyfield, Netherton, appeared at Sefton Magistrates Court on June 13 where he pleaded guilty to attempted burglary, with the intention to steal, at a property on Sandon Road.

Mat Harvey, prosecuting, said that the resident had made a brief return to his property at 10.35am of July 7 of last year to collect a wheelbarrow from his rear garden when he saw Preston lying on the ground and interfering with the bottom of his patio doors.

“He said to the defendant ‘what are you doing?’ and the defendant replied that he was just lying down,” Mr Harvey said, “He got up to leave but was detained at the scene.”