Preston pound shop burglar who was caught by police dog is jailed

A thief who smashed into and burgled a Preston pound shop with three accomplices has been jailed for 14 weeks.
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Robert Cross, 31, of Milner Street, Deepdale, Preston, broke into the Pound Plus store, Church St, Preston, on January 13 with two other men and a woman.

Preston Crown Court heard during the break in, at 1.30am, the shop was left in an untidy state, with items strewn everywhere.

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The group smashed the front door, causing £500 damage, and stole three mobile phones.

Robert CrossRobert Cross
Robert Cross

Beth Pilling, prosecuting, said: " Four individuals had been seen to leave the premises on council CCTV.

"The defendant was on a bike and went one way.

"He was apprehended by a police dog. Items from the property had been dropped and were recovered."

In an interview Cross admitted he had taken part and stated he "had no money and was stressed."

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He told officers he had left his accommodation as a lot of drug use was going on, and apologised.

The court was told two other offenders were dealt with by magistrates and the fourth was cautioned

Paul Hope, 35, of St Chad's Road, Preston, was jailed for 26 weeks.

Lynne Beattie, 45, of Junction Street, Burnley, got a community order and six month drug treatment order.

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In a statement a shop worker said she had seen the front door smashed in with "items all over the place".

The business was left out of pocket with a £500 repair bill for the front door.

Cross, who has 19 convictions for 27 offences, admitted burglary.

Mark Stephenson, defending, said since his time in custody Cross was "showing real green shoots of change", but did not seek to duck the sentence that was likely to be passed.

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Sentencing, Judge Simon Newell told Cross he needed to try and resolve his drink and drugs issues, and added: " I can see lengthy criminality going back to the early 2000s for which you received a variety of sentences - to your credit they seem to stop in 2009.

"You went in effect nine years without committing criminal offences. You've then fallen back in the last three years - and no doubt it's drug based - to burglary and theft."