Bungling burglars are jailed

5:50pm Wednesday 12th November 2008

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TWO bungling burglars were caught after police followed the tyre tracks of their bicycles.

The fresh marks made in wet weather led to the home of Justin Leach in Bridge Street, Worcester.

Police found Leach and his accomplice Crimea Price hiding inside the flat, said Jason Aris, prosecuting.

Stashed in the property were 18 designer handbags worth £3,394, stolen from Tandini, a shop in the city’s Copenhagen Street.

Leach, aged 31, now of Barley Close, Cheltenham, and 32-year-old Price, of Carlisle Road, Ronkswood, Worcester, pleaded guilty to burglary.

Judge Andrew Geddes jailed Price for two-and-a-half years but reduced Leach’s sentence to two years because of an early admission of guilt.

The judge revealed that Leach had 10 burglaries on his record of 103 offences.

Price had seven burglaries among 100 previous convictions.

The judge recognised that both men had made considerable progress in tackling drug addictions while on remand in jail. He hoped their success would continue once they were freed.

The raiders were caught on CCTV on their bikes. One was carrying a bulging duvet cover, Mr Aris told Worcester Crown Court.

Police found the tyre marks which led to Leach’s barricaded front door.

Inside the flat were a chisel, face mask and a hooded top containing fragments of glass from the burgled shop.

Leach told the arresting officers: “I don’t care. I do it for money. This is the least of my worries.”

His defence counsel Simon Burns said he had been addicted to crack cocaine since the age of 15.

He kicked the habit for six years but lapsed after a long-standing romance broke up.

Lee Marklew, for Price, said he was now facing the long- est sentence in his criminal career.

Other raids had mostly been on outbuildings.