THE jail sentence of a “thoroughly dishonest” serial burglar has been branded “a joke” by one of his victims.

Prolific criminal Martin McDonagh, of Priory Road, Littlemore, Oxford, was jailed for three years and eight months for one burglary and one attempted burglary.

The 38-year-old admitted breaking into a house in Ellesmere Road, Oxford, on February 22 this year and stealing an Apple MacBook Pro laptop.

He was also convicted of an attempted break-in at a property in Littlemore on December 6 last year, when he pretended to be a Good Samaritan.

McDonagh was seen by 26-year-old Hilary Branford coming out of her back garden in Oxford Road after she heard a window breaking.

He told her he had chased the culprit over the garden’s back wall and stayed at the scene to tell his story to police.

But inconsistencies in his account, as well as his long criminal record, aroused suspicion and he was convicted by a jury earlier this month in Oxford Crown Court.

McDonagh has 26 previous convictions for a total of 83 previous offences, including 21 domestic burglaries, dating back to 1991.

Miss Branford said the experience had been “horrible” and had left her feeling insecure in her own home.

She said: “I didn’t really process it at the time, but when everyone had gone and we were just sitting here I burst into tears. I just didn’t feel safe.

“People say it’s not what they take it’s what they leave behind. You end up twitching at every noise.

“The worst thing was that they didn’t tell me he was on bail and I walked straight into him on the way to Sainsbury’s. That was awful.”

Miss Branford said McDonagh’s sentence was “very disappointing”.

She said: “With all his previous convictions I would have expected something close to that just for the attempted burglary, not including the fact that he’s been caught robbing someone else.

“For them it must be a complete joke. He invades their home and takes their belongings and he’ll be out in around 20 months. That is an insult.”

On Thursday a judge heard McDonagh also wanted the theft of a bicycle on February 9 to be taken into consideration.

Graeme Logan, defending, said his history of crime was mainly down to a heroin addiction he had struggled with for 22 years.

He added that his client had been getting help with his drug habit and the burglaries were “compulsive”.

Sentencing McDonagh, Judge Gordon Risius told the defendant he was a “thoroughly dishonest man” and he and his family faced a very bleak future if he did not reform.