A MAN who burgled a Blackburn couple’s home, after they treated him like family, has been jailed for three years.

Robert Traill, the boyfriend of the couple’s daughter, got a key cut before raiding the Bolton Road address where more than £7,000 of jewellery and cash were taken.

Traill and his cousin David Bufton had both done casual work for the householder and on the morning of their crime had even been to his builder’s premises.

Traill, 31, of New Chapel Street, and 30-year-old Bufton, of Wellington Road, Blackburn both pleaded guilty to the burglary, from last October.

Bufton was jailed for two years, eight months at Preston Crown Court, where Judge Michael Byrne heard he had acted as the lookout.

The victims were shocked and distressed that someone they treated as family had done such a thing. Traill is still with the daughter and she is expecting his child.

Katie Jones, prosecuting, said there were no signs of a forced entry to the home.

Neighbours spotted Traill outside the address that afternoon. In the morning, one of the defendants had asked the householder if his wife would be in.

Both defendants had previous convictions.

Jane Dagnall, for Traill, said he had had difficulty with wages and carried out the burglary to help his finances, adding that he was ‘remorseful about what happened’.