IT was early on a morning in July last year and the Hexham Bowling Club looked abandoned when Kirk Crossley used a metal pole to force his way in through an emergency exit.
He walked behind the club's main bar, cut the cords connecting a safe to the tills and then walked back outside, got in his car and drove off.
The break-in had triggered an alarm and a security guard and a greenskeeper were watching when Crossley returned and walked back into the club a short time later.
Crossley, 38, then put the safe on a trolley, rolled it out of the club and forced it into his car.
He sped off and, a few hours later, was captured on CCTV driving into a rural property at Fullerton Cove, where he went to an abandoned house and used a sledgehammer and other tools in a bid to force open the safe.
Unfortunately for Crossley, his efforts would be in vain; the safe was empty and would later be found broken into five pieces under the Stockton bridge.
Crossley's DNA was later found on an axe head at the club and the entire incident was captured on CCTV, according to an agreed statement of facts.
About a week after the Hexham break-in and failed safe theft, Crossley went to a shopping centre at Medowie and tried to break into a tattoo parlour before turning his attention to Domino's Pizza.
He was spotted wheeling a trolley full of rocks through the car park before using one of the rocks to force his way into the pizza shop. He tried, unsuccessfully, to steal a safe and fled empty handed.
He was captured on CCTV driving the same car as the Hexham break-in and police soon tracked him down to a motel at Nelson Bay on July 19.
He was arrested and refused bail.
On Wednesday, Crossley, who is represented by solicitor Matthew Unwin, appeared in Newcastle Local Court via audio visual link from jail where he pleaded guilty to the break-ins.
He will next appear in Newcastle District Court in June to get a sentence date.
