Abbey Wood burglar jailed after invading woman's home

When she came face to face with the burglar in the morning, he told her: “Sorry, I went in the wrong house. I thought this was my friend’s house.” 

The woman later found headphones, speakers, bags, a tablet and cash were all missing. 

Burglar Reuben Lloyd Johnson, 31, has now been jailed. 

Reuben Lloyd Johnson (Image: Met Police)The incident took place on Rushdene in Abbey Wood on May 9 last year. 

The woman went to bed with her property secure but woke up to see Johnson standing in her house. 

After making his excuses, Johnson left her home. 

Prosecutor Jade Sodipo summarised a victim impact statement in court. 

“The victim said that emotionally the trauma of the incident has been overwhelming. She’s experienced fear, anxiety, shame and a feeling of helplessness since,” Ms Sodipo said. 

“She said that simple tasks which were once routine are now daunting.” 

Just over a week before this burglary, on April 29 last year, attempted to burgle three homes on Tanhurst Walk in Abbey Wood. 

A man who was on holiday saw from CCTV that someone tried to get into his kitchen window, Ms Sodipo said. 

He then phoned his neighbours and discovered that the same man had tried to get into their homes. 

After these incidents in Abbey Wood, Johnson burgled homes in Reading. 

He was later jailed for two years and four months by Reading Crown Court. 

The court heard that Johnson was taking crack cocaine at the time of his offending and committed these offences to make money. 

In mitigation, the court heard that Johnson is neurologically atypical and had a traumatic childhood. 

He was born addicted to Class A drugs due to his birth mother’s drug abuse and suffered a serious head injury at a young age. 

On Wednesday (May 9, 2024) Johnson appeared at Woolwich Crown Court after pleading guilty to four counts of attempted burglary and one count of burglary, all in Abbey Wood. 

Judge Nicholas Heathcote Williams described Johnson as “pleasant but disinhibited” but said “it is impossible to ignore the history of repeated dwelling burglaries”. 

The Judge told Johnson that because these offences took place at the same time as the Reading burglaries, he would treat the offending as a whole. 

He therefore sentenced Johnson to a further eight months in prison, to be served on top of the two years and four month sentence he was previously given.