A SERIAL burglar has been jailed for 17 years and will have to spend more time behind bars than some killers.
New South Wales District Court Judge Paul Conlon, sitting in Wollongong, jailed Jaime McKillop, 37, for 17 years and ordered he spend at least 12 years behind bars before applying for parole.
McKillop's Victims burst into applause while in court when the sentence was handed down.
The families, who lost heirlooms - including war medals - when McKillop broke into their homes, said they expected him to get a "slap on the wrist" because judges were out of touch with community expectations.
The sentence was similar to that for Gordon Wood, who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend Caroline Byrne last month,and sentenced to 17 years and four months in jail.
It is eight years longer than the sentence given to husband killer Danielle Stewart.
And it's longer than the nine years Robert James Borkowski was jailed for over the deaths of Alan and Judith Howle, whose car he ploughed into while street racing.
Robbery victim Ken Sweeny, who awoke in the night to find that McKillop was ransacking his home, said himself and other victims were so excited they were jumping for joy outside court.
"I was in a state of shock at first," 69-year-old Mr Sweeny, who is blind, said.
"I do think the community expects sentences like this but unfortunately they are too rare." [...]
