A prolific burglar who tried to evade capture by jumping into the River Trent has been jailed.
Twenty-year-old Karine Hartshorn was such a brazen thief that he even crept into one of his victim's homes while she was asleep on the sofa with her young child in bed.
He jumped into the Trent in July this year, after officers tracked him down in Clifton following reports of an attempted burglary in Wilford.
He was eventually arrested seven days later at an address in Clifton.
Hartshorn admitted three other burglaries in Clifton, a burglary in Ruddington, one in Barrow-upon-Soar, the attempted burglary in Wilford, two thefts from vehicles in Clifton and theft from a museum in Birchington, in Kent, which were all taken into consideration when Hartshorn was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday.
He was handed a 15-month sentence for each of the two burglaries, to run concurrently.
He also admitted two burglaries in Sangar Gardens and Raleigh Close, in Clifton, at an earlier hearing after officers found a number of stolen items following his arrest.
DC Chris Taylor, from Radford Road CID, said: "In a bid to evade arrest Hartshorn chose to jump into the murky waters of the River Trent.
"In doing so he not only risked his own life but wasted valuable police resources as a large number of officers, along with a specialist underwater search team, were deployed to look for him over concerns he may not have got out safely.
"Hartshorn later contacted police stating he had no intention of handing himself in but his efforts to avoid arrest were in vain as officers soon tracked him down.
"He is a callous thief who didn't think twice about burgling homes in his own neighbourhood and was so brazen he even crept into one property while the resident was asleep on the sofa with her young child in bed."
Inspector Nick Waldram, Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Clifton, said: "Hartshorn's intrusive crimes not only had a direct impact on the victims he targeted but also the wider community.
"People were made to feel vulnerable in their own homes, scared to leave them unoccupied and fearful of crime.
"A considerable amount of work has been done in Clifton to drive down the number of burglaries and the fact that Hartshorn has been taken off the streets will only contribute to the success of the ongoing operation."
