The 16-year-old yob, who has not been named, adds that he is not sorry he burgled the family in the disgusting letter, penned under supervision.

West Yorkshire Police intercepted the note before it was sent to his victims.

The page-long letter, which is littered with spelling mistakes, reads: "I'm not bothered or sorry about the fact I burgled your house. Basically, it was your fault anyways.

"I'm going to run you through the stupid mistakes you made.

"Firstly, you didn't draw your curtains.

"Secondly, you were dumb enough to leave your downstairs kitchen window open. I wouldn't do that in a million years."

The teenage burglar was recently sentenced to a 12 month intensive supervision and surveillance plan - avoiding a custodial sentence.

Ch Insp Melanie Jones, from West Yorkshire Police, said the letter was "cold and dispassionate" and was not passed to the victims, who live in Leeds.

She said the decision was taken to release the letter, written as part of the order he was given, as a warning to householders to secure their properties.

Ch Insp Jones said: "The contents of the letter are disgusting but it does highlight the cold and dispassionate way burglars select a property to target.

"The most straightforward thing is to remember to lock your door when you're in the house and keep downstairs windows closed, particularly if you're out of the house or in another room.

"At this time of year, and with it being dark by late afternoon, it's really worth investing a few pounds in a timer switch to illuminate your property and give the impression someone's at home.

"If you have a house alarm, please remember to set it during the night and not just when the property is empty.

"Other simple measures include closing curtains when it's dark, removing any valuables from near windows and doors and hiding car keys.

"It's also worth remembering that a number of insurance companies will no longer settle claims when a property has been left insecure.

"We are working hard to target and reduce burglary, but the biggest impact we can make is by working together to ensure burglars are not given a series of easy targets."

The letter in full reads:

"I don't know why I am writing a letter to you! I have been forced to write this letter by the ISSP.

"To be honest I'm not bothered or sorry about the fact I burgled your house. Basically it was your fault anyways.

"I'm going to run you through the dumb mistakes you made. Firstly, you didn't drow (sic) your curtains which most people now (sic) to do before they go to sleep.

"Secondly your (sic) dumb you live in Stainburns a high risk burglary area, and your (sic) enough to leave your downstairs kitchen window open.

"I wouldn't do that in a million years.

"But anyways I don't feel sorry for you and I'm not going to show any syhmpth (sic) or remoers.(sic)

Burglar calls victims 'dumb' in letter - Telegraph

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A true professional, that kid. Maybe he could be convinced to work for the insurances, establishing how dumb people were and thus allowing the insurance to refuse paying... Profitable business, that.

Or go the entrepreneur route and set up his own security consultancy... Write his own "Anti-Burglar Security for Dummies"... Spell-checks and editors are paid to handle typos and spelling mistakes (and I note how superior the Telegraph journalist felt compared to that kid for being able to write properly).

Also funny is the Chief Insp. Jones use of the adjectives "disgusting" and especially "cold, dispassionate"... Why, I am sure he is all fired up and emotional about his job? Not to mention that how exactly are we supposed to believe that burglars target houses. "Oh, this one is housing an old lady. Poor thing. I am not going to steal from it". Thieves, like everyone else, respond to incentives.

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Yeah, I thought the level of the writing was pretty good too - no worse than most, at any rate. And that satirically quoted "sympathy and remorse" bit at the end is a flash of genius.

But what most interested me here was the fact of him being obliged to write the letter in the first place. It reminded me of that American case where a couple of girls got sent down for sexting. The original judge ordered them to write essays about how they were going to be demure little maids from now on, which was quashed on appeal as a violation of their right to free speech.

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It is probably part of the restorative justic thing, which seeks to bring perpetrators into contact with their victims, which has been praised by both. But I'm pretty sure that only works some of the time, and just writing a letter isn't really it anyway: probably trying to do it on the cheap.

Surely, restorative justice only works if the criminal is actually genuine? If he is actively resisting the process, what's the point?

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Yes and no. I mean, probably "actively resisting" is a non-starter, but other people who didn't think it would mean anything to them found that it did. That's one of the interesting things about it; I'm sure that there are many crims who rationalise to themselves that their victims deserved it, as this guy has done, but when confronted with a real person the things they imagned that person to be get challenged. That has certainly been what some people going through it reported.