Prolific Preston thief Raymond Robinson stole Preston church funds intended to help vulnerable people

Raymond William Robinson, 43, of The Paddock, Fulwood, Preston, claimed the first time he burgled The Xaverian Mission spiritual centre in Preston he was "looking for an aerobic class" but nobody was there so he had stolen property.

In a victim impact statement the priest said the church was a religious retreat, and that it was "very upsetting" for the organisation.

Preston Crown Court was told the stolen money had been donated through fundraising and "set aside to help asylum seekers."

Around the time of the burglaries the prolific Preston criminal was repeatedly targeting the Booths supermarket in Garstang, stealing more than £970 worth of whiskey in four separate thefts.

He is now starting a 16 month jail term after the court heard he was already on a prison licence and conditional discharge for theft.

Prosecuting, Jane Dagnall said the crime spate spanned February 16 to April 7.

She added: " At 8.30pm on July 25 this defendant turned up at the police station and admitted burglaries at the religious centre and said he wanted to be arrested.

"On March 5 he stole £800 cash, a laptop and passport. He accepted he had got rid of that, used the cash and sold the laptop.

"The interior doors of the church divide the building from a dwelling. At 10.15pm he is caught entering on CCTV in a hat and gloves. He was seen to have looked through the drawers in the reception.

"The next day a priest who lives on the premises was alerted."

The religious society had to pay a £500 insurance excess to make a claim

"April 7 is a second burglary. At 3.20am CCTV shows him enter through a back bedroom window. The door to the bedroom was locked so he couldn't have gone any further into the building.

"He then went down to the kitchen and smashed a window. He rifled through drawers and forcibly removed a donation box from the wall."

Defending, Philip Holden said Robinson was struggling with drug addiction after his release from prison, and was hoping police would arrest him.

Judge Beverly Lunt said: " It was bad enough you burgled the church once, but then you returned because you clearly thought it was an easy target.

"In the meantime you were attending Booths with regularity and stealing rather a lot of bottles of whiskey.

"You need to start looking at your next sentences in terms of years than months as its the only way to protect premises from you."

The Lancashire Post is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. For unlimited access to Lancashire news and information online, you can subscribe here: https://www.lep.co.uk/subscriptions