Addict set back medical research by stealing hospital laptops

A DRUG addict who stole groundbreaking medical research from a hospital in Birmingham during a spree of burglaries has been jailed.

Mark Roberts’ theft of laptops from Edgbaston’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital harmed research being made into traumatic brain injuries. It also caused those undertaking the work significant distress and also led to problems finding new funds.

Roberts, 45, of no fixed address, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.

He admitted three charges of burglary, three of theft and criminal damage.

The defendant was caught on CCTV in the early hours of March 30 last year breaking into the hospital and searching a number of floors.

He forced open a number of doors, smashing glass and causing £500 worth of damage.

Roberts also went into the cancer department and stole five laptops worth £9,000.

His blood was found and a DNA match later made.

Two days earlier, Roberts had walked into the Strathallan Hotel, in Hagley Road, Edgbaston, where a business meeting was taking place in a conference room.

When one of those taking part in the meeting left to go to the toilet the defendant sneaked in and took his car keys, laptop and bank cards.

After complaining about the theft, the victim then went to check on his car, an Audi, only to see it being driven off by Roberts. When the car stopped he managed to punch a hole in a window but Roberts then reversed and drove up to the third floor of the car park before abandoning the vehicle.

However, the businessman then made a second attempt to detain the defendant when he saw him in a stairwell, taking hold of his coat but he managed to wriggle free and flee.

Oliver Woolhouse, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said Roberts had also stolen from a vending machine from Nuffield House, on part of the QE site, and was caught trying to prise open a till in a staff canteen at the National Convention Centre.

In passing sentence, Judge Patrick Thomas QC said: “This is an appalling spree of serious offending, as, I hope, you have the sense to understand.

“The burglary at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is of great seriousness.

“These are people who devote their lives to trying to make lives better for those who are sick and injured.

“You decided you could just smash your way in to the place where they work and steal their computers.

“To you they are just money but to them they are a significant part of their life’s work and a lifeline towards hope.”

Joseph Keating, defending, said Roberts had turned to alcohol and then drugs while caring for his seriously ill uncle.

“This was a spree of offending that was feeding an addiction, one that has now stopped,” he said.