"only use the desktop occasionally..." possible
"could have been an external USB..." possible but again the family didn't notice before the police arrived?
broke in while family was sleeping, downloaded porn, stole drive, left without the family noticing... possible
police searched shed of wife's co-worker for no apparent reason... possible

posted by a British newspaper the day before April1... suspicious
not covered by even one other major news source... suspicious
no sources mentioned in the Times article... suspicious

Sure it's possible but based on the story it seems pretty unlikely.

He stole the hard drive and the family didn't notice that it was missing and report a burglary?