A Sidcup couple and their grandchildren have been left frightened after a burglary happened at their home in broad daylight.
Cyrus Caesar, 25, was jailed for 14 months on Tuesday (June 30) following the incident which took place three years earlier.
The victims left their home on Longmead Drive at around 11am, then returned at around 4pm, to discover that someone had broken in by forcing the conservatory door off its hinges.
The burglars had ransacked the property and stole around £2,000 worth of jewellery, some of it very sentimental, from the master bedroom.
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The victims said: "One of the most upsetting parts of coming home to being burgled was that our two young grandsons, eight and ten, were with us as we came in.
"They could see the conservatory door ripped off its hinges and were understandably upset and worried that someone was still in the house.
"Our grandchildren don’t seem as relaxed in our home as they used to be, they ask questions about the burglars and whether they’ll come back.
"We try to reassure them, but we worry they do not see our home as the safe place they did before and might not want to stay with us, which is upsetting as that’s something we looked forward to before."
The couple said they feel more anxious about going out.
"We fear that someone will be in the house when we come home. I get my husband to go in first and check that someone isn’t inside," one of the homeowners said.
Caesar, from Sidcup, was identified by fingerprints and was eventually charged with burglary in April 2026.
Woolwich Crown Court heard there was no good explanation for the three-year delay in charging Caesar.
Police suggested the delay was a result of Caesar being out of the country but Daniel Murray, defending, said his client didn’t have a passport and he had been at his mum’s nearby the whole time.
The thief was also identified as the culprit of another attempted burglary in Quentin Place, Blackheath, in August 2023.
On that occasion, the homeowner woke to the sound of Caesar smashing a window, but he fled after cutting his hand on the glass.
Mr Murray said the offences were committed on impulse.
"There was some financial instability at the time and that was the prime motivation, his tendency to prioritise his own needs over others when his family were under financial pressures," Mr Murray said.
Judge Daniel Dyal sentenced Caesar to one year and two months in custody.
He will serve up to half in custody before he is released on licence.
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