A BUNGLING gang of burglars who raided a Worcester pub were caught after one of them left his footprint on top of the safe.

Stephen Garratt, Jamie Fisher, Ashley Titley and John Tripicchio admitted carrying out the botched raid at the Timberdine Harvester, in Bath Road.

They broke into the pub in the early hours of July 6, 2015, activating an alarm as they removed the window frame and metal bars to get into the back office, Worcester Crown Court was told.

Richard Gibbs, prosecuting, said the safe was left facing a different direction, debris was scattered on the floor and winching straps and a chain were left behind. The damage was placed at between £1,500 and £2,000.

A blue Ford Focus, driven by Tripicchio, was stopped by police shortly after the burglary and he was arrested.

Titley was in the front passenger seat and Garratt in the back.

Mr Gibbs said all three men were ‘visibly sweating’. Police seized a crowbar, four pairs of gloves and walkie talkies.

Automatic number plate recognition technology showed that the Focus travelled in convoy with a Mitsubishi L200, traced to Fisher, who was arrested later the same day.

Mr Gibbs said: “His size 11 trainers were a conclusive match to a print found on top of the safe.”

Tripicchio also admitted conspiracy to steal number plates after a burglary at Uniplate in Tamworth on October 2, 2015, in which 15,000 blank number plates, worth £12,500, were stolen.

Robert Cowley, defending him, asked the judge to give him credit for his early guilty plea.

Fisher also admitted being involved in a burglary at West Midlands Travel in Fallings Park, Wolverhampton, on June 12, 2015, in which a metal vault was ram-raided, causing more than £10,000 of damage.

The offences placed Fisher in breach of an existing 15-week suspended sentence for stealing a trailer and possession of an offensive weapon, the court heard.

Lee Masters, for Fisher, said he got into 'bad company' and 'went off the rails'.

Fisher had now realised 'criminality was not for him', he added.

Mr Cowley, also defending Garratt, said the haulage worker, pleaded guilty to the Worcester burglary at the first available opportunity.

He said: "It was hard for him to say no. The report gives the impression he was very much a follower rather than a leader."

Gareth James, for Titley, said: "He had gone along with the others at a time that was difficult for him in his life."

Judge Nicholas Cole said there had been 'a degree of ransacking' at the pub, aggravated by the business having been targeted, the raid being planned by a gang and committed at night.

Trippicchio, aged 49, of Allen Road, Tipton was jailed for 50 months – 20 months for the Worcester burglary and 30 months for the conspiracy to steal the number plates.

Fisher, aged 25, of Millington Road, Tipton, was jailed for 41 months – 21 months for the ram raid, 19 months for the Worcester burglary and one month for the suspended sentence which the judge chose to activate in part.

Garratt, aged 39, of Menin Road, Tipton received an 18 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and must complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

Titley, aged 24, of Allen Road, Tipton, was handed a 19 month jail term, suspended for two years.

He must complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation activities through the probation service.