Mum turns in son, 18, after 275 burglaries

Sean Iceton, 18, stole a games console from his mother and after his arrest took shocked police officers on a tour around properties he had targeted while operating with a gang. He then spent hours identifying what items he had stolen.

Chris Aspinall, prosecuting, said the total value of items taken, including laptops, TVs, computers, games consoles and vehicles, was £740,000.

The offences were carried out over a 12-month period when Iceton, who used the money to fund addictions to drugs and alcohol, was part of an organised team, Leeds Crown Court heard.

The youth was arrested after being reported to the police by his mother when he stole an Xbox worth £200 from her home and sold it to pawnbrokers Cash Converters.

Speaking after the case, his mother, Mandy Iceton, 41, a care worker, said calling the police was the hardest thing she had ever done.

She realised her son was up to no good but was shellshocked at the scale of crimes to which he confessed.

She said: “It was really hard, but what else do you do when you know your kid’s running riot? I knew that he was up to stuff but couldn’t prove it.

“I wouldn’t see him from Thursday night until Monday morning. That’s why I knew something was really wrong. I knew he was taking drugs too, that was the hardest bit to handle.

“I felt like I loved my son and I didn’t want to see him killing himself, or I didn’t want to see the police knocking at my door one night to say he’s been doing a burglary and someone has killed him.”

She hopes her son now had a future and added: “I hated the thought of my son going into someone else’s house and taking their valuables.

“If parents don’t do anything about it, who else will?”

After making his admission, Iceton wrote a letter saying: “I am sorry for all of the victims. I expect to get a prison sentence and when I get out I am going to get a job.”

Sentencing Iceton to a young offenders’ institution for two years and nine months, Judge Colin Burn told him: “You are only just 18. The three matters that you were sent here for by the magistrates just pale into insignificance compared to the 272 dwelling house burglaries and attempted dwelling house burglaries you are entirely responsible for.”

Iceton, of Raynville Road, Bramley, Leeds, pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary and two charges of theft. He asked for 272 further similar offences to be taken into consideration.

Richard Reed, mitigating, said his client wished to wipe the slate clean and said: “He accepts it was a phenomenal amount of money. He received only a small portion of that.”