A care home raider who twice targeted a building where dementia sufferers and other vulnerable elderly people live has been jailed.
Michael Riley broke into the Byker Hall Care Home, in Byker, Newcastle, in December 2020, getting in through a basement door, trying various door handles in the building and entering various rooms, although none of them where residents were living.
A court heard he stole a DVD player and coffee machine from a conference room and then returned to the building to steal a TV from a wall and a hi-fi system. Six months later, in June 2021, he returned and tried to break in again, just after midnight.
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He made persistent attempts to gain entry, trying to force a door open with a rake before stealing items which had been left next to a skip, including a sewing machine, fan and table lamp. He was spotted, police were called and he was found to be armed with a rounders bat. Items from the first raid were then found at his home.
Riley, who told police he was only in the area of the nursing home looking for something to eat, pleaded guilty to burglary, attempted burglary, theft and possessing an offensive weapon. The 50-year-old, of Morton Street, Byker, Newcastle, who has 51 previous convictions going back to 1992, was jailed for 16 months.
Judge Julie Clemitson, at Newcastle Crown Court, told him: "The premises you burgled is a residential care facility for vulnerable people that require care and nursing, some of whom have dementia or other infirmities. They are vulnerable residents who will no doubt have relied on those items you stole on the first occasion and you risked causing upset and distress to those patients. This was a particularly low offence."
Jamie Adams, defending, said: "He has a somewhat sad life. He was not in anyone's room and he found some of the items in the rubbish."
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