Sunderland pair stole almost £10,000 of goods from Mercedes-Benz showroom in two raids within days

Shaun Ellwood, 48, of Ravenswood Square, Hylton Red House, is starting 12 months behind bars for the attacks at the Hylton Grange garage in April.

The burglaries, which netted £3,000 of high-cost alloy wheels and tyres and £2,000 of drills and spray paint guns, took his lifetime offending to 129 crimes, South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard.

Former squaddie Daniel Fletcher, 28, of Joyce Terrace, Castletown, who was discharged from the armed forces in 2016 with post-traumatic stress disorder, was handed an eight-month term, suspended for 18 months.

The pair admitted striking first on April 12, taking drills and paint guns, and to returning on April 18, entering through an unlocked gate at 6pm and making off with the alloys and tyres.

During both crimes a third, unidentified culprit was involved, in one joining them inside the premises and in the other, reversing a car into which the stolen goods were placed and removed.

Prosecutor Lesley Burgess said: “There was CCTV from the garage which shows three men. On one occasion, a man breaks a window and two other males go through the window.

“Alloy wheels were taken. The wheels were distinctive and considerably valuable, worth £3,000.

“In the second offence, it was tools that were taken, and the CCTV was very clear.”

Ms Burgess said the tools were not recovered but the wheels and tyres were, and that £9,700 of goods were taken in total.

Fletcher also pleaded guilty to being one of three men who stole £600 of champagne, Jack Daniel’s whiskey and food from Tesco’s store at Towers Place, South Shields, on March 3.

One of his co-accused has pleaded guilty and the other is awaiting trial.

Ellwood’s crimes put him in breach of a release licence after being freed from prison last September for a house burglary.

Jason Smith, defending Fletcher, said: “He does not have a great deal of previous convictions.

“He’s ex-Army, he came out in 2016, he left the services as a consequence of suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

“He had been trying to access mental health services in Sunderland but hadn’t got help. He turned to drugs, from cannabis and he is now addicted to cocaine.

“You will note that there’s a significant contrast between the record of Mr Fletcher and that of his co-accused. He’s not someone who commits offences of this nature.”

Gerry Armstrong, defending Ellwood, said: “I can’t argue against anything other than an immediate custodial sentence.”

The court heard Ellwood had been recalled to prison for breaking the terms of his burglary release licence and will not be released until July 2021.

Both men were ordered to pay Mercedes-Benz £2,500 compensation.

Jobless Fletcher was given a four-month sentence for each burglary and must reside at Elizabeth Street, Seaburn, Sunderland, abide by a 12-week 10pm to 7am curfew and complete 20 days of rehabilitation work with the Probation Service.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you.

How to subscribe to the print edition

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.