Car burglar jailed after 65 convictions

A prolific burglar and drug addict from Bulwell has been jailed after he breached a court order by stealing a CD and a toy helicopter from parked cars at night.
Nottingham Crown COurt.Nottingham Crown COurt.
Nottingham Crown COurt.

Andrew Randle, 49, of Quarry Avenue, admitted stealing the CD, worth £10, and the remote-controlled toy, worth £13, from cars parked in Watnall on August 30, and Lambley on September 6, last year.

Jasmine Kumar, prosecuting, told the court Randle was captured on CCTV entering an unlocked Cherokee jeep in Watnall and left a handprint on a plastic bag in the boot of a Toyota Verso in Lambley.

She said: “It is his occupation and he has been doing it for ten years or more.”

The court heard Randle had been charged with 276 offences over the years, 132 of which were for theft, and had 65 convictions. A suspended sentence had been imposed in July last year for stealing a mountain bike.

Mitigating, Clarkson Baptiste said: “He would be the first to admit he has an appalling record and for being abstinent of amphetamine, which has been the main blight on his life.”

He said Randle had recently begun a new relationship and asked the court to keep his sentence to the bare minimum.

Judge Stuart Rafferty QC described Randle as ‘an amphetamine addict’ who started as a house burglar and moved on to stealing from vehicles.

He said: “You were made the subject of a suspended sentence only in July last year. Days later, while on police bail you re-offended.

“You promised you would try hard but you didn’t provide a single negative sample - that’s how hard you tried.

“Until such time as you want to get help this is going to keep on happening. You are 49 years of age. I wonder how many years you have spent in custody. You are an absolute nuisance.

“Breaking into a car is almost as bad as breaking into a house. It causes massive inconvenience and massive distress.

People have to realise you have been prowling around their estates in the dead of night.”

Judge Rafferty sentenced him to six months for the breach, plus six months for the thefts.

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