by Paul Hooper

When Melvyn and Eileen Edwards discovered expensive jewellery missing from their Margate home, they knew it was an inside job.

The house in Westcliffe Gardens had not been broken into and suspicion initially fell on their granddaughter Abigail Jackson, who lived in a separate part of the building.

But a judge heard she knew who the real villain was - her 29-year-old boyfriend Andrew Tyrell, who had a criminal record including burglary.

She trapped the devious lover into admitting in a damning text message that he had snatched a gold chain with a St Christopher medallion, a gold sovereign ring and earrings to pay a drugs bill.

Judge Adele Williams told Tyrell – who admitted the burglary - it was a "mean and despicable offence" and jailed him for two years and seven months.

Prosecutor Donna East revealed at Canterbury Crown Court how Ms Jackson had formed a relationship with Tyrell, who worked in a coffeehouse in Westwood Cross in Broadstairs.

"It was clear that although she had access to the rest of her grandparents' home – he didn't," she added.

In November, Mr Edwards placed his gold chain and ring in a jewellery box in his bedroom. When he went to fetch them the following month they - along with a pair of earrings - had gone.

"There was no sign of a break-in, so Mr and Mrs Edwards spoke to their granddaughter who in turn confronted the defendant," she added.

"this was a relapse when he ran up a drugs debt and returned to his criminal ways to seek a way out of his problem..." – simon taylor, defending

Tyrell, of Minster Road, Westgate, eventually admitted in a text he had gone to the bedroom of his girlfriend's grandparents and stole the items, selling them at a jewellers' in Margate for £450.

Simon Taylor, defending, said Tyrell now felt remorse for his thieving – which had occurred during his battle with drugs.

"This was a relapse when he ran up a drugs debt and returned to his criminal ways to seek a way out of his problem. He knows that what he did was wrong and is going to be punished for it."

He said despite his previous convictions, he managed to get the job at Westwood Cross, which he held down for two years.

Judge Williams said: "You are a three-strikes burglar and you have a bad criminal record. You have been given opportunities in the past to address your drugs problem and unhappily you have relapsed and returned to crime.

"I do not ignore the fact that you have made progress but the pattern of offending is clear and I have a duty to protect the public. Unless you address your problems once and for all you face a bleak future of increasingly longer sentences."