Published Friday, 11 January 2013
Maskey was sentenced to two and a half years. (© UTV)
Belfast Crown Court heard that Pearce Maskey, of no fixed abode, cut his hand after smashing his way into a city centre office block last April.
On the third floor of the building he uncovered a first aid kit which he used to bandage up his hand.
However by the time he left empty-handed after ransacking the building, causing over £1,000 damage, Maskey's bandage had come undone and was left behind for police to find.
Once his DNA identified him Maskey was arrested and readily admitted breaking into the office block, and not for the first time either.
Judge Gordon Kerr told Maskey he was simply a consummate burglar with nearly 30 previous convictions, but since he was sentenced for a total of three years last month for similar offences committed around the same time, he would not add to the term.
He imposed a sentence of two and a half years.