A former Nissan worker has been jailed after repeatedly burgling homes, sheds and garages during a three-month crime spree.
In total, Sean Scotter pleaded guilty to four burglaries but asked for another nine to be taken into consideration after he caused misery to residents by targeting premises across parts of Sunderland and County Durham. A court heard that, on one occasion, the 34-year-old broke into a home while the occupants were on holiday and made-off with a safe containing more than £11,000-worth of jewellery and cash.
However, the hapless thief proved he wasn't a criminal mastermind after leaving blood inside the property and being unable to gain access to the safe, which he later abandoned in woodland. In fact, Scotter either left blood or fingerprints or was caught on CCTV at the scene of most of his burglaries, prosecutors said.
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Newcastle Crown Court was told that the drug addict was also banned from attending his grandmother's address but turned up uninvited, let himself in and walked into her bedroom while she was sat in bed. He then demanded cash before helping himself to her purse from her bedside table and fleeing.
Scotter, of no fixed abode, has now been locked up for a total of 28 months after he pleaded guilty to two counts of dwelling burglary, two of non-dwelling burglary, one of breaching a restraining order and one of theft. He also asked for a further nine burglaries, an attempted burglary and a fraud to be taken into consideration.
Jonathan Gittins, prosecuting, said Scotter attended his grandmother's Houghton-le-Spring home while she was in bed at around 8.45am on August 1 last year, despite being banned from doing so. He let himself in, went to her bedroom and demanded £20 in cash, which she refused to give.
Scotter then grabbed her purse, which contained bank cards, change and 50 Euros, from her bedside table and fled. In an attempt to stop him, his gran tried to follow but tripped and injured herself. There's no suggestion Scotter directly caused her to fall, Mr Gittins said.
The prosecutor said that Scotter next burgled a home in Houghton-le-Spring on August 6 while the occupants were on holiday. Mr Gittins continued: "[The victim] received a phone call from a neighbour to say a rear bedroom window at his property had been smashed.
"He returned that afternoon and contacted the police. Blood stains were found in the front and rear bedroom, which were tested and matched the defendant's. A safe with £11,600-worth of jewellery, cash, credit cards and passports had been taken."
In a statement, the victim said they'd found it "distressing" to return to the home knowing someone with no care or respect for people had been inside and stolen their safe.
The court heard that, on August 5, Scotter struck again, this time at a caretaker's house, which was uninhabited, on the grounds of Eppleton Academy Primary School, in Hetton-le-Hole. Mr Gittins said Scotter caused £300-worth of damage by breaking into the building but fled empty-handed. Again, he left blood at the scene.
On July 22, Scotter broke into a garage at a home in West Rainton and helped himself to two bikes, worth £1,100. Unfortunately for him, he was captured on CCTV and easily identified by police. Then, on August 9, he burgled a garage at a home in Pittington Crossing, in County Durham, and made off with a strimmer, having been interrupted by the home owner. On this occasion, he left behind his fingerprints.
The court heard that Scotter asked for nine other burglaries, an attempted burglary and a fraud to be taken into consideration. All occurred between June and September 2022.
Katie Spence, defending, said Scotter, who has 62 offences on his record, had been addicted to drugs at the time and had committed the burglaries to fund his habit. She added: "He's put on four-and-a-half stone since he has been in prison, he looks entirely different. He's a different person. He's used his time on remand well and is no longer addicted to drugs.
"He's undertaken a lot of courses in prison and feels like he's ready to come out. He wants to get back into employment." Ms Spence said that Scotter had once been employed by Nissan and wanted to go back to working for them upon his release.
Locking him up and making him subject of a criminal behaviour order, Recorder Andrew Latimer said: "I think you are beginning to understand the damage that burglaries do to individuals."
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