A PROLIFIC drug addict burglar who injured a Kidderminster hairdresser, raided the town hall, a fish bar and an amusement arcade is now behind bars.

Matthew Baddeley admitted a string of burglaries in Kidderminster when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Monday.

The 36-year-old of Shadwell Street, Birmingham, burgled Shipley's Amusements on June 8 last year and the town hall and the Fish Bar in New Road the following day.

He burgled Vibe hairdressers in Oxford Street on June 19 last year, an offence which also involved a battery against a member of staff after he pushed her out the way to snatch cash from the till.

He admitted yet another burglary on June 29 this year at Starbucks at the University of Wolverhampton and was in breach of a suspended sentence order, also imposed for burglary.

Graham Russell, prosecuting, said the defendant asked for a haircut which was merely a pretext to commit the burglary at Vibe. He asked to change a £10 note and while Carole-Ann Muller Jones opened the till he shoved her out of the way, stealing £95 in cash. Photographs of her injury were shown to the judge who described it as 'a nasty bruise'.

Baddeley was found upstairs in a town hall office going through one of the desk drawers. When challenged he was described by Mr Russell as having ‘all the patter’ and being ‘cool and unflustered’, telling two managers he was hiding from people who had attacked him and showing them his missing teeth. As a result he was patted down and allowed to leave without having taken anything.

He was later identified from CCTV footage.

At the fish bar he gained access to private staff quarters. He was seen running away and afterwards a member of staff discovered a £150 handbag was missing along with £600 of takings from the restaurant. Baddeley was identified from fingerprints on a magazine which he was seen to discard near the scene.

During the burglary at the arcade Baddeley was observed playing on a ‘mega jackpot’ machine near the private staff room. A member of staff asked Baddeley to remove his hood. While a member of staff went on her break Baddeley entered the private area and took a float bag containing £120 in notes and £18 in change as well as her Adidas backpack containing perfume, make-up and keys. The defendant was identified from CCTV footage.

Police later attended Baddeley’s address where they discovered the backpack. A short while later Baddeley arrived and was arrested.

The burglary at the University of Wolverhampton once again involved the defendant entering a private staff area, telling members of staff he had been ‘looking for the toilet’. He ran off and staff gave chase and he was detained by security staff. Police were called and he was arrested. He stole a purse containing £16 in cash, credit, debit and National Insurance cards.

Glenn Cook, defending, asked that Baddeley be given credit for his early guilty pleas and that the judge take into account the time his client had been remanded in custody (since July 17).

“These offences were committed to fund a drug addiction” said Mr Cook.

He explained that the defendant had not attended crown court on August 21 because he was in hospital. Mr Cook said his client had had surgery for a leg injury where an abscess had to be lanced. Baddeley suffers from deep vein thrombosis and had contracted septicaemia. He said: “There was risk he could lose his leg. Thankfully he hasn’t.”

Judge Nicolas Cartwright said Baddeley had been dealt with for 67 offences, including convictions for burglary in 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002 (two), 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2017.

He said of the burglary at Vibe: “I have seen a photograph of the substantial bruise caused to her arm by your violence upon her. This was as close to robbery as it’s possible to get. The effect upon her has been significant."

The judge said the offences were 'aggravated enormously' by Baddeley's previous convictions and that the burglaries were committed in a short space of time and showed features of both greater harm and higher culpability.

He jailed Baddeley for 47 months and 40 weeks which included the activation in full of the suspended sentence.