Burglar left bottle with name on in bag of stolen meat
AMAN who smashed his way into a skate park at the start of lockdown and stole thousands of pounds worth of clothes has been jailed - after he left a methadone bottle with his name on it in a bag full of stolen meat.
Jason Parsons left the community of skaters and young people in South Bristol devastated when he broke into the Campus Pool indoor skate park in Bishopsworth at the depths of the coronavirus lockdown, and stripped the store and shop there.
At the time, parents and young people spoke out about how ‘incredibly demoralising’ the crime was, just two weeks into lockdown.
It was just one of a series of burglaries committed by the 49-year-old, who has now been jailed, along with a partner in crime.
Bristol Crown Court heard how Parsons, of no fixed abode in South Bristol, was eventually caught after he teamed up with Dale Kennedy.
The pair went into Lidl in Whitchurch Lane, Bishopsworth and started filling up hold-all bags with packs of meat.
They were spotted by a security guard and challenged, and at that point threatened to stab him, before escaping on mountain bikes.
Police arrived and searched the area, and spotted Kennedy, 47, from Hersey Gardens in Bishopsworth on his bike with the two holdall bags. He saw the officers, dropped the bags and cycled off, detained.
Police had an idea who the other man was when they found an empty bottle of methadone with Jason Parsons’ name on it, in one of the bags full of meat.
Both men pleaded guilty to robbery. Parsons also pleaded guilty to three commercial burglaries that he’d done in the previous weeks, including the raid on the Campus Pool skate park.
Parsons was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.
Kennedy was sentenced to two years and six months in prison.
CCTV video of that raid captured Parsons breaking in to the former swimming pool’s shop area, and loading up expensive skater fashion clothing into a bag.
He also pleaded guilty to stealing from the Tesco Express in Totterdown in February and the same Lidl on the south Bristol ring road on March 12.
Sgt Darrell Boothroyd, from Avon and Somerset police, said his team had worked hard to get the two men jailed.
“We have worked hard to bring together the evidence for these cases, which has helped bring about their guilty pleas,” he said.
“I would like to commend the security guard and the response teams at Broadbury Road whose swift actions led to the arrests. PC Gale and PC Wilcoxson’s diligent and time consuming investigation was integral in obtaining the sentences for these prolific offenders.,” he added. but was eventually