Death notice burglar jailed

A burglar who chose his victims from death notices in newspapers was yesterday sentenced to a jail term of three years and nine months with a non-parole period of two years.

Mark Anthony Dorgan, 42, pleaded guilty in Timaru District Court to seven charges, including three relating to break-ins at the homes of recently-deceased people.

Police said Dorgan scoured newspapers for death notices which provided an address to which to send flowers. He was arrested at a supermarket after presenting stolen food vouchers.

A woman whose mother's house was burgled by Dorgan just two days after her death said the sentence was not long enough.

She said it was despicable for someone to raid a home when relatives were "at the lowest point in their lives and just ransack the place and take whatever he felt like".

- NZPA