Two burglars who drunkenly ransacked a British Heart Foundation shop said they didn’t know they were stealing from a charity.
Gary Dutton and Jack Roberts burgled the shop on West Derby Road as well as a phone repair shop in Old Swan last year.
Yet dad-of-three Dutton walked free today after a judge said sending him to jail would make his children homeless.
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Peter Hussey, prosecuting, said the pair left both shops facing thousands in losses due to the damage they caused and the items they stole.
He told Liverpool Crown Court the men burgled the mobile phone shop in Old Swan on October 10, 2021, breaking through the rear door and taking electronic devices worth just under £2,500 as well as some cash.
Just over a month later, on November 18, they burgled the British Heart Foundation shop on West Derby Road.
Referring to a police statement from a regional manager for the charity, Mr Hussey said Dutton and Roberts had caused extensive damage to the building and left the charity facing thousands in losses.
Mr Hussey said: "The safe had been broken into and cash had been stolen. The amount of cash in the till was £1,336.”
Mr Hussey said the charity faced paying a considerable amount to fix the damage and fit a security camera they now felt was necessary in the wake of the burglary.
Roberts, 27, also targeted a children's nursery alone on September 29, before he carried out the two burglaries with Dutton.
He caused thousands of pounds in damage breaking into the nursery before taking just under £150 worth of goods.
Brendan Carville, defending Roberts, said both he and Dutton were drunk when they committed the offences and did not realise the premises they were targeting.
“He is adamant that he did not know it was a charity shop until faced with the police.
“You will recall that the charity shop and the mobile phone shop were both accessed from the rear doors.
“This is a case where the defendants were heavily drunk.”
Mr Carville added family members of Roberts, who has multiple convictions for burglary, had told the court they would be able to assist in paying compensation to the British Heart Foundation.
He said Roberts had been abstaining from alcohol and that “the person in the dock today is different to the person who has come before this court before”.
Charles Lander, defending Dutton, said the 41-year-old was deeply remorseful for his role in the burglary.
He added that while he had a number of previous convictions there had been a large gap in his offending.
Mr Lander said Dutton had spiralled into crime and alcohol abuse after his wife died of breast cancer.
His sister and father also both died in recent years.
Mr Lander said that had a serious effect not only on Dutton’s mental health but also the support system available for his three children should he go to jail.
The judge, Neil Flewitt QC, said Roberts and Dutton’s crimes had hit businesses which aimed to help their communities, whether they targeted them or not.
Referring to the British Heart Foundation shop, he said: “I am told that neither of you realised what the nature of those premises was - but if you go burgling full of alcohol and drugs, stumbling up on any premise you come across, you run the risk of affecting a business whose only purpose is to serve the community.”
He said Roberts’ worse criminal record and involvement in an extra burglary meant only an immediate jail term was suitable for him. He also activated an order Roberts had breached by committing the burglaries, adding another three months on to his jail term.
Addressing Dutton, Judge Flewitt said it was only for the sake of his children that he was avoiding prison.
He said: “For that reason and that reason alone I am going to suspend this sentence.
“If you step out of line it will be you who is making your children homeless - and you alone.”
Roberts, of Judges Drive, Tuebrook, was jailed for two years and three months.
Dutton, of Darmond Road, Kirkby, was jailed for 16 months, suspended for two years.
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