Judge orders extra Christmas presents for three nine-year-olds

A judge has ordered extra Christmas presents for three nine-year-olds after they helped catch and convict a burglar who stole an 88-year-old woman's funeral savings.

The children raised the alarm when they saw Robert Franklin, 41, running from the woman's home in Whitby, says The Press newspaper in York. They had noticed his young children, taken along as cover, standing alone in the street.

The trio told the woman's neighbours what they had seen and also gave evidence in court, with one picking out the defendant in a line-up.

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Franklin, of Whitby, denied the accusation but was found guilty and given a five-year prison sentence. It later emerged he has several previous convictions for house burglary.

Judge Paul Batty ruled that a cheque for £50 should be sent to each of the children's parents to buy an extra Christmas present for the youngsters. He also offered to arrange a presentation ceremony, if they wanted.

"Anyone who witnessed the case could not fail to be impressed by the actions of these youngsters," he said.

"Something should not only be said but also done to mark their actions, not only in saying what they did to alert adults and thus to this defendant being arrested, but also having the courage to come to court to give evidence in the impressive way they did.

"Cheques will be sent to the parents so that each of them could receive an additional Christmas present."

The judge added that the victim's account of how the crime had affected her was one of the most "heart-rending" he had ever read.

"This lady now feels that her life is over. She locks herself inside her home, effectively imprisoned inside," he said. "Before this crime, she was a happy elderly lady who had an open house for her family and friends, that is not so now."