Serial criminal who helped carry out £38k raid on Sunderland store given chance to keep his freedom

Three intruders, which included defendant Edward Gill, raided the Geekys store and smashed the safe with a hammer.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that Gill, who has 36 previous convictions including 25 for burglary, was later identified via the shop's Ring doorbell footage.

Prosecutor Rachael Glover said that the shop shut at 5pm on August 4 using secure shutters at the front and fire doors which were locked at the back.

Ms Glover said: "On the 5th of August the complainant was notified by a member of staff there had been a burglary.

"The offenders had gained entry through the fire door at the back of the store.

"There was no damage to the door itself but the metal locks were damaged and this was estimated to cost £200 to repair."

The court heard that the group then went onto take mobile phones, lap tops and tablets which belonged to customers who had brought them in to be fixed.

They then smashed open the safe, before deliberately breaking the shop's CCTV system.

However, when reviewing the Ring CCTV, the complainant spotted a male in the shop alone. He was then seen to leave but returned later in the night with two others, one of which was Gill, the court heard.

Between 30 to 40 items were taken during the burglary which amounted to a loss of around £37,900.

Gill, 54, of Tower Street West, Sunderland, was later arrested and he pleaded guilty to burglary.

In a victim statement, the shop owner said he "feels guilty" about the loss of his customers' belongings.

He said: "This burglary will and has had a major impact on us.

"All this will impact our customers too. Many of our customers have given us their personal items to repair and we have to explain that we cannot return them.

"This will also impact on our footfall and customers visiting the store when they hear what has happened.

"I'm worried I will suffer sleepless nights worrying about my shop."

Katie Spence, mitigating, said her client was remorseful for his actions.

Ms Spence said: "He is in part-time employment. He works 16 hours a week as a roofer.

"He talks excitedly about the prospect of working in the new year.

"He's incredibly sorry for his actions and would like that to be conveyed to the court.”

Judge Sarah Mallett decided to defer Gill's sentence for six months.

The judge said: "I'm impressed by the fact you have found employment. The long and short of it is there are positives here.

"On the other hand this is a serious commercial burglary which had a very severe impact on the business owner and a lot of other people who had left their items with that business obviously believing they would be safe.

"And you have a bad record for burglary. There are a lot of good arguments for locking you up straight away."

However, the judge added: "On balance, I'm minded to give you an opportunity to see whether or not over the next six months you can get yourself in that better position."

Gill will return to court in June next year.