A teen burglar’s decision to steal from his cousin was branded ‘mean, despicable and calculated’.

But Curtis Brough, now 21 but 19 when he broke into the Oxford home of the couple who had taken him in, was spared an immediate spell behind bars.

Recorder John Hardy QC noted that the burglar had moved away from the area and his life had improved.

Imposing a year’s imprisonment suspended for 12 months, the judge said: “It was a mean, despicable and calculated offence, biting the hand of those who had fed you.”

Brough sobbed in the dock as he was told he wouldn’t be going to prison. Instead, he must do 60 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Prosecutor Christopher Pembridge told Oxford Crown Court on Thursday that Brough had been staying with his cousin and the man’s partner.

On November 17, 2019, the day of the burglary, Brough’s cousin and his partner were being interviewed by the police on unrelated matters, the court heard.

The defendant forced open the door to the Abingdon Road property and swiped a money tin containing around £500 in cash.

The cousin’s partner said they had been saving up to pay for their wedding. “What Curtis did was a massive betrayal of our trust,” she said in her victim statement.

Andrew Bousfield, mitigating, said his client had moved away to Blackpool with his father. His long term partner was pregnant.

Brough, of Moat Crescent, Malvern, was found guilty at the magistrates’ court of burglary. He must pay £500 in compensation.

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