An appeal to trace stolen jewellery with sentimental family value has been launched after a burglar was jailed when his DNA was found in a flat he raided in Shoreditch.
Saliva on a drinking carton found after the £18,000 burglary matched 43-year-old John Mallaghan’s profile.
Police have issued pictures of the unrecovered jewellery he stole with a reward up to £1,000 for an arrest of anyone handling stolen goods.
Two people returned from work on December 7 to find the bedroom in the flat in Shoreditch High Street ransacked and diamond rings, earrings, necklaces, watches and cash had been stolen.
Mallaghan was traced through his DNA and arrested in the street on February 21. Officers found an improvised pipe on him designed to smoke crack cocaine.
He was jailed for six years and three months yesterday when he appeared at Wood Green crown court where he had admitted burglary.
His victim described the “significant impact and sentimental cost” of the stolen jewellery which had been handed down by her mother and grandmother.
She is now afraid to be in the flat alone and feels violated after her bedroom was targeted.
The watch was a gold ‘Longines’ bought in 1980. One ring is made of pearl on a gold flower, another is a diamond solitaire. A three-diamond pendant was also taken.
Det Insp Paul Ridley said: “This irreplaceable jewellery was stolen only weeks before Christmas, but Mallaghan has shown no regard to the victims and is likely to have sold it for a fraction of its value to fund his addiction.
“The victims have been left devastated by the loss of these family heirlooms. The woman’s mother who bequeathed the gold watch to her daughter died only weeks ago.”
Detectives are confident the distinctive jewellery items will be recognised if offered for sale.
Anyone with information about the jewellery is being urged to call Hackney CID on 101, or tweet @MetCC, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555111 or Crimestoppers online. The reward up to £1,000 is if the information leads to an arrest for handling stolen property.
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