Close case of burglary, with judge stopping disrespect by low criminal (5,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
cheek by jowl
'close case of burglary' is the definition.
'cheek by jowl' can be an answer for 'close' (I've seen this before). I'm not certain of the 'case of burglary' bit.
'judge stopping disrespect by low criminal' is the wordplay.
'judge' becomes 'J' (abbreviation for judge).
'stopping' is an insertion indicator (stopping can mean blocking a gap).
'disrespect' becomes 'cheek' (cheek is a kind of disrespect).
'criminal' indicates an anagram.
'by'+'low'='bylow'
'bylow' anagrammed gives '[bylow]'.
'cheek'+'[bylow]'='cheek[bylow]'
'j' going inside 'cheekbyowl' is 'CHEEK-BY-JOWL'.
'with' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cheek by jowl that I've seen before include "closely linked" , "In close proximity" , "Side by side, close" , "Close together" , "In immediate proximity" .)