A thief has been jailed after a family who took him into their home used victims' rights laws to tell a judge how he betrayed them by stealing £25,000 worth of heirlooms.
Ricky Barton was befriended by businessman David Jones and his wife Kathy who found him a job and invited him to spend every weekend with them.
They put him up in their restored water mill in Ilfracombe, Devon, and loaned him money so he could find his own bedsit and asked their builder to employ him.
The family trusted him so much they asked him to help them move their valuables from one part of the house to another during the building work.
He betrayed their friendship by sneaking into their bedroom and stealing jewellery which had been in their family for three generations including Mrs Jones's late father's collection of Victorian snuff boxes.
Barton, aged 33, was jailed after both Mr and Mrs Jones went into the witness box at Exeter Crown Court to read out victim impact statements which set out their feelings of betrayal.
They both came close to tears as they told of their horror at finding that their property had been stolen and sold at a local jewellers so Barton could feed a drug habit which he told them he had overcome.
The Jones family run a tourist attraction at the working mill at Hele, near Ilfracombe, where they also live.
Mr Jones said:"He has betrayed our family completely over two and a half years. It has left us sad and numb and doubting our decision to try to help others."
His wife Kathy said:"My daughters looked on him as an older brother. When we embarked on major building work we encouraged the firm to employ him.
"When he split up with his girlfriend we took him in and fed him and set him up in a bedsit of his own. We treated him just like a member of our family.
"He stole 45 items and a collection of snuff boxes which my father built up over 40 years. We gave him a chance to improve his life. He has blighted ours."
She said her own feelings went from disbelief to anger and her teenaged daughters now feel insecure in their own home.
Barton stared at the floor as they read their statements and did not look up at either of them.
Barton, of King Street, Combe Martin, admitted burglary and was jailed for two years and two months by Recorder Mr Edward Burgess.
He told him:"This was a peculiarly mean spirited and selfish offence. I cannot put into words how grave an abuse of trust and friendship this represents.
"It has been articulated very powerfully in this court by both Mr and Mrs Jones and I have no doubt whatsoever that only an immediate jail sentence is justified.
"The jewellery was of particular economic, sentimental and personal value and it has been stolen irretrievably. The thefts were persistent, and furtive. You may have had your own reasons but that is no consolation to the losers."
Mr Gordon Richings, prosecuting, said the Jones family had taken Barton under their wing and helped him set up a new life in North Devon, including a job working on the refurbishment of their home.
He took the jewellery which was kept in their temporary bedroom while the work was under way and they only discovered it when Mr Jones went into a shop in Ilfracombe where it was on sale.
It included Mrs Jones' engagement, wedding and eternity rings and other jewellery which had been passed down for three generations on both sides of the family. The total value was at least £15,000 and probably £25,000 or more.
Mr Gareth Evans, defending, said Barton had been a heroin user for ten years and only started stealing after increasing his use of the drug when his girlfriend left him last year.
He said he has genuine remorse and the deepest sympathy for the Jones family and wishes to apologise to them.
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