Inmates bully bungling burglar trapped in bathroom window

A BUNGLING thief who got stuck in a tiny window at a house he was burgling has been jailed for four years.

Paul Keenan had been dangling out of the bathroom in Bow for hours before he was discovered when the home owner got up for breakfast.

Firefighters were called and used a ladder to support his legs while they cut the 12in by 8in window frame.

At 8.30am, after six hours trapped there, Keenan was finally freed. To the amusement of a watching crowd, he was led to a police van handcuffed and topless, as some of his clothing had been removed during the rescue.

Keenan, 36, from Bow, pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook crown court to the August burglary and smirked in the dock as details of his case were read out. He is apparently being bullied in prison over his embarrassing capture.

The court heard he had a string of previous convictions for burglary and was on licence from another sentence.

Judge Timothy King said: "The courts might have hoped there would come a time that saw an end to your breaking into people's homes and have made it clear this will not be tolerated.

"Your sentences have been increasing and more of your time has been spent behind bars than in freedom. I have little optimism you will change." Prosecutor Alexander Agbamu said: "Police were called after reports from members of the public that a man attempting to gain entry to a building had got stuck in the bathroom window.

"The occupants received a great shock when they saw someone was half in and half out of their home."

After he was freed and arrested, Keenan told police he had been drunk and could remember nothing beyond midnight. He carried out his first robbery aged 15 and has appeared in court four times for burglary. The minimum sentence any burglar can receive on the "third strike" is three years.

At the time of the Bow raid he was on licence from a 42-month sentence for burglary and has since been recalled.

Nicholas Cooper, defending, said: "On remand he has been picked on because of the way he has been vilified"