Burglar ‘went on a spree’
A man who broke into a Newmarket shopping centre went on a spending spree with the cash he stole.
Luke Sheppard, 27, smashed his way into The Guineas Centre in January last year and stole £4,393 in cash from a safe and £1,200 of gold from the H & T Gold Bar store.
Ipswich Crown Court heard after the break-in, during which £260 worth of damage was caused, Sheppard went on a “spending spree”, splashing out £406 at Toys R Us, £1,327 on computer equipment and paying £1,000 into his bank account.
Six days later, Sheppard and his girlfriend flew out for a holiday to Egypt having paid £878 cash for the trip at a local travel agent, said Charles Myatt, prosecuting.
On his return from holiday, Sheppard, of Frampton Close, Newmarket, broke into the Guineas Centre again, but was spotted by CCTV operators who alerted police.
He was seen to bury a long handled axe in the snow and then run off.
Shortly afterwards, he was arrested in Exeter Road.
Pieces of glass found on Sheppard’s clothing matched that from windows he had broken on both occasions at the Guineas Centre. Sheppard, pleaded guilty to two offences of burglary.
Richard Kelly, mitigating, said: “He very much regrets involving himself in these offences.”
Sheppard was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
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Saturday 25 May 2013
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