Burglar with 13 break-ins on his record jailed over two early morning raids in Sunderland just months apart

Robert Young, 39, broke into the first first property in Sunderland during the early hours of August 5 last year and made off with goods from a fridge stored in the garage.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that Young was given bail so a drug rehabilitation requirement assessment (DRR) could be carried out before he was sentenced – but in December he struck again at a different house.

Joe Cully, prosecuting, said that Young tried the doors to the homeowner's car which was sat in the garage first but had no success.

Mr Cully said: "The first offence was at half-past three in the morning on August 5.

"The defendant climbed over a rear wall on Cedar's Crescent in Sunderland.

"He walked to the rear garage door and tried all of the doors on an Audi A4 without gaining entry before opening a fridge in the garage."

The court heard Young stole food items to the value of about £85 before climbing a wall to leave.

Just less than four months later, on December 1, Young struck again at 2am at a house on Percy Terrace South.

Mr Culley said that CCTV showed he had left the address but returned just less than half an hour later and took a bike to the value of around £800, which later appeared on Gumtree under the seller name 'Maxine', damaging the roof in the process.

The owner of the bike described it as his "pride and joy" during a brief victim impact statement, as well as asking the court to take "positive and strict" action against Young.

Young, of Hastings Street in Hendon, Sunderland, had pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one of attempted burglary at previous hearings.

Judge Amanda Rippon sentenced Young, who had already appeared before her in relation to the first matter in August, to two years in prison.

The judge told him: "You came before me in November. I heeded to see whether you were ready to rehabilitate yourself and I released you on bail for a DRR assessment.

"You have 13 previous convictions for burglary on your record which lasts from 1996 to 2020.

"Other aggravating features in relation to your burglary offences are your convictions, and all of them were committed at night in the early hours of the morning and the occupiers were present which makes it a higher harm.

"You burgle homes and leave a significant impact on your victims."

Nick Lane, defending, told the court that Young and his partner had recently experienced a miscarriage which he had struggled to process, leading to more substance misuse.

Mr Lane added: "He is very sorry to the court and to the home owners.

"He recognises he needs help with his addiction, clearly he will have to do more work upon his release.

"He would wish me to express remorse to the home owners. Of course he has heard it before but he has a road to travel but he is determined to complete that journey."

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