Prolific burglar raided care home, Chinese takeaway, supermarkets and Sunderland's Angelo's Restaurant

Ricky Elliott attacked a number of businesses in South Tyneside and Sunderland between June 2020 and September 2022.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the 46-year-old stole cash, booze, and other goods during the crime spree.

Joe Hedworth, prosecuting, said Elliott struck first at the Doric View care home in Penshaw, which looks after users with disabilities.

The court heard that the home was shut for three months at the time because of the Covid pandemic.

Mr Hedworth said: "The manager attended at the care home at quarter-past four in the afternoon that day and saw the property had been burgled.

"The door was open, the medication room had been entered, blood was on the door handle.

"One of the windows had been smashed with a concrete brick to gain entry.

"Two safes had been broken and one was empty."

Elliott was later found and arrested where he was taken into interview under caution.

However, he was back in custody just months later when he broke into a Chinese takeaway in Penshaw via its back door.

Mr Hedworth said the owner, who lived upstairs, found Elliott outside his bedroom holding a screwdriver and a container holding £300 before making off.

He later struck again at Angelo's Restaurant in Sunderland in the early hours of February 25 last year, where he and a co-accused stole £500 worth of alcohol.

He also took hundreds of pounds worth of goods from ASDA and Morrisons in South Shields across two separate days in 2022.

Mr Hedworth added: "He has 73 previous convictions for 184 offences. He is a prolific burglar."

Elliott, of Tower Street West, Sunderland, admitted two counts of burglary, one count of aggravated burglary, and two counts of shoplifting.

Mr Recorder Tony Hawks jailed him for five-and-a-half years.

The judge told him of the seriousness of his crimes and said he could not absolve himself from blame.

"You've got an appalling record. It's plain from the age of 18 you've ruined your life with drugs,” he said.

"Some of your problems I accept are not of your own making but some of the problems you have are of your own making."

Glen Gatland, defending, told the court Elliott lost his wife through illness and had admitted his offending at the earliest possible opportunity.

Mr Gatland said: "The fact is that Doric View had been empty for quite some time. It appeared to be empty to Mr Elliott when he went in to see what he could take."

Referring to the break-in at the Chinese takeaway, he added: "He used the screwdriver to force the lock on the door.

"It was then he was confronted by the hapless owner and of course he had the screwdriver in his hand."

The judge told Elliott: "I hope you reflect over the next few years or so about where your life is going try draw a line under this behaviour."