JAIL FOR ‘MEAN’ HOSPICE BURGLAR

RAIDER ALSO HIT HOMES AND BUSINESSES

A burglar who ransacked a hospice, a hair salon, a dental practice, a GP surgery and people’s homes was eventually caught after trying to sell stolen goods door-to-door.

Stephen Cole has been jailed for three years after carrying out the break-ins in Willesborough and Ashford between November last year and March this year.

One of the businesses he raided was The Hair Shop in Hunter Road, Willesborough, in January, where he smashed his way into the salon via the back door.

He stole a black box, products, hairdressing equipment including scissors, straighteners and hairdryers, and a charity box, with a total estimated value of £2,000. The 30-year-old, of Brattle in Woodchurch, also broke into two homes while people were asleep, and raided the Pilgrims Hospice during the spree.

But Cole alerted police to his crimes while he was being arrested in February, asking them to find his orange Citroen Saxo, which he said was missing.

The car was used during the raid on the Pilgrims Hospice between Friday, February 3, and Sunday, February 5, and contained other items stolen from other crime scenes. It was parked around the corner from his home.

He admitted six burglaries when he appeared at Canterbury Crown Court, where Judge Simon James told him: “These six burglaries involved you and others entering people’s homes while they were asleep and another involved you breaking into a hospice.

“It would seem that you and your gang were targeting char- ity boxes, and on one occasion involved you causing gratuitous damage to premises.

“You were in fact arrested for the first burglary in December 2016, and as a result, all the other offences were carried out whilst you were on bail.” The burglary at the Pilgrims Hos- pice in February sparked a huge public response, with donations of replacement equipment and goods pouring in from the public and businesses.

He also raided the Willesborough Health Centre in Bentley Road, and the Romney House Family Dental Health Centre in Hythe Road, where he flooded the building by leaving the taps switched on, causing £10,000 worth of damage.

Judge Simon James told him some of the thieving had been “particularly mean” including deliberately targeting charity boxes.

‘It would seem you and your gang were targeting charity boxes’

Picture: Kent Police Stephen Cole