A BEWDLEY man who took stolen jewellery to a cash converters in Stourport hours after it had been stolen in a burglary has been sent to jail.

John Baker, of Hornbeam Close, sold some of the valuable jewellery for £260 to a cash converters in Stourport within hours of the raid on a house in Crundles Lane, in Astley, on August 1, Worcester Crown Court was told.

Some more of the jewellery was recovered from the 40-year-old’s home after his arrest but items of great sentimental value were still missing, Michael Conry, prosecuting, told the court.

He said the family had returned from holiday to find their bedrooms had been searched and had to explain to their young children what had happened.

A ring was stolen from one of the children’s rooms, and a string of pearls and an heirloom pocket watch were still missing.

“It was a very distressing burglary,” Mr Conry said and householder Clare Burden said in a victim impact statement she had been willing to pay for the return of the stolen items.

Baker had previous convictions for dishonesty dating back to 1994 and was in breach of a suspended sentence.

He pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods, but there was no evidence he had been involved in the burglary, the court heard.

Abigail Nixon, defending, said Baker did not know where the items had come from and had given the name of a man to police concerning the burglary, but no charges had been brought.

She said his record reflected his drug addiction and in the periods when he had been free from drugs, there had been no offending.

She said he had worked for a charity to help others tackle drug addiction and had another job lined up.

Recorder Nicholas Jones gave him a sentence of 16 months and activated the 12 week suspended sentence in full – making a total of 19 months in custody.