Jamie Nicola used a tool to force open the door of a four-bedroom detached house in Finchampstead Road, Wokingham, in May and ransacked the home of Roger and Andrew Kitson’s mum who had died earlier that month.

The 46-year-old, of Southcote Lane, Reading, stole the dead woman’s wedding ring, valuable ornaments, antique clocks worth more than £2,000 and jewellery, leaving items strewn about the home. Nicola, who pleaded guilty to burglary, was jailed for 27 months at Reading Crown Court on Friday, Judge Nicholas Wood told him the sentimental value of the items along with his record of 30 convictions for 82 offences meant that Nicola would be jailed, though added the sentence was lower because of his early guilty plea. The judge said: “It is almost impossible to read the victim’s personal statement without some degree of emotion. One of the items that you took was a wedding ring a son had taken off his mother’s finger just after she died.

“That is a matter of sentimental value of a level rarely seen. It seems to me the trauma to Andrew and Roger Kitson is of the highest level. It is clear they have been very severely affected.” Nicola was also given a concurrent sentence of four months for attempting to burgle the house next door less than a month later. A neighbour spotted him with Emily Brace, 34, trying to break into the home’s garage.

Shelley Webster, defending Nicola, admitted that despite his poor record he has battled with drugs and has a number of children.

She said: “He was quite upset when he found out the occupant of the house had passed away and has been trying to find the words to formulate a letter to the deceased’s sons to apologise.” Michael Orsulik, defending Brace, of Frederick Place, Wokingham, app-ealed for a suspended sentence because of her early guilty plea and the fact the raid had not been successful.

He said: “She played quite clearly a lesser role.” Both pleaded guilty in August to attempted burglary. Judge Wood gave Brace a community order and two-year supervision order. He said: “You have been in trouble before, but not for a long time.”