Sunderland burglar caught red-handed stealing child's bike after neighbour raises alarm

Shortly before 8am on Friday, August 28, police received a call from a neighbour who said she could hear someone inside the house in Rangoon Road, Red House, which had been vacant for two months.

Officers found Christopher Bewick inside with a child’s BMX which had been stolen from a shed off Rochford Road hours earlier, along with a number of tools.

Bewick, of no fixed abode, admitted two counts of burglary when he appeared before magistrates in Newcastle on Saturday, August 29.

Northumbria Police Detective Chief Inspector Michelle Robson oversees a dedicated burglary at Southwick Police Station who monitor every reported break-in across Sunderland and South Tyneside and work closely with neighbourhood officers.

“This was a fantastic bit of teamwork between response officers and detectives who were able to secure this conviction,” she said.

“Christopher Bewick is somebody who is known to police and showed a total disregard for the law as he selfishly stole a child’s bike and then broke into a second address which sat vacant.

“This type of behaviour is totally unacceptable and he now must deal with the consequences of his unlawful actions when he is sentenced in court.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the member of the public who spotted an intruder and did absolutely the right thing by picking up the phone and contacting police. Their actions allowed us to deploy officers to the scene quickly and catch Bewick red-handed.

“We will continue to work hard to take burglars off our streets and we do not apologise for our zero-tolerance approach. If you see something suspicious in your community, report it.”

Bewick will be sentenced at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on October 6.

Anyone who sees anything suspicious should contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of the force website or by calling 101.

In an emergency or if a crime is happening, always ring 999.

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Sunderland Echo website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here. Thank you.