A BLACKBIRD LEYS man caught burgling a Botley Road business abused police, then claimed he was trying to catch the real culprit.

Peter Gaughan, 31, of Falcon Close, initially told police he had been trying to act as a “good Samaritan”.

Oxford Crown Court heard on Tuesday how officers discovered Gaughan inside Oxford Glass and Glazing on the evening of Monday, October 19.

He had already smashed a window at the nearby Northgate Vehicle Hire with a rock but not stolen anything, and used the same technique to get in the glass shop.

Prosecutor Tim Boswell told the court: “Police see someone inside the premises and he throws abuse at the officers, effectively “come on then catch me.”

Mr Boswell said a female officer used pepper spray to detain Gaughan, and when he was finally in custody he told officers: “tell her I’ll rape her”.

Gaughan admitted burgling both businesses and also admitted stealing a car from a family home in Abingdon.

Mr Boswell told the court Gaughan targeted the home on Radley Road after the family went on holiday in July.

He smashed a front window with a rock, took only the car keys and drove off in the VW Passat Estate in the driveway. His DNA was found on the rock.

The break-in was the third domestic burglary on Gaughan’s record, so according to the Government’s three-strike rule he automatically faced a minimum three-year sentence.

Gaughan’s defence barrister Peter Du Feu told the court that Gaughan’s former girlfriend, who currently has a restraining order against him, was hoping to patch things up with her partner.

He said: “ At 31, he recognises the value of the endurance and support of his partner who has come here today.”

Judge Ian Pringle sentenced Gaughan to three years for the domestic burglary, treating the car theft as part of that offence, and another nine months for the two business break-ins.