A BURGLAR was tracked down after leaving footprints in the snow.
Dean Ellis Kinsella, of Heol Wen, Coedpoeth, who got drunk with friends then stole a motorbike was found by police who followed their tracks.
Kinsella broke into the shed and garage of a couple who were alerted to the crime after hearing noises outside their house.
When they looked out of the window they saw footprints in the snow leading up to their home in Heol Offa, Tanyfron, and called the police.
Wrexham Magistrates Court heard officers discovered a Honda 125 motorbike had been stolen and followed three sets of footprints leading away from the house in a bid to track the thieves.
Justin Espie, prosecuting, said: “They found someone had been in the garage and had also forced entry to the shed and a bike had been taken.
“The tracks showed a number of males had been involved and judging by the footprints they had been having difficulty in the snow.
“Officers followed the tracks to another garage and found this defendant so drunk he didn’t know much about the incident.”
Kinsella, 19, pleaded guilty to burglary other than a dwelling, with intent to steal, and burglary other than a dwelling with theft.
Ian Barnes, defending, said his client had drunk about 15 bottles of lager on the night of the incident, January 17.
“Dean can’t remember much but he accepts the charges,” he said.
“He was not thinking rationally and did something he wouldn’t normally do.
“This is his first conviction and he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
“There was minimal damage caused and the bike was recovered.”
Magistrates were told Kinsella had been diagnosed with ADHD at the age of seven but had stopped taking medication when he was 17 because he did not feel it helped.
The two other men involved in the theft had been dealt with separately, one given a caution and the other sent to Crown Court on a more serious charge.
Kinsella could not escape with simply a caution because he had received one before.
He was handed a 12-month community order with a 10-day specified activity to address his alcohol problems and ordered to perform 150 hours unpaid work and pay £85 costs.