Burglar jailed after he stole leisure centre equipment

A BURGLAR stole £10,000 worth of equipment from a leisure centre and as well as laptops from a student house. He also stole vodka and products from various shops.

Benjamin Lord, 39, pictured, broke into Newport International Sports Village on May 8 but was caught after an alarm was set off and notified police. When officers attended the centre at around 11pm several men on bikes scattered from the scene.

When they searched the outside, they found a door near the pool was ajar, having been prised open. They also found another open door by the tennis court. CCTV footage was shown to police and they recognised the defendant who could be seen using a screwdriver to open the door and leave through a window.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday heard a number of items were found in undergrowth, including a number of laptops and tablets with charging leads.

They also found a large fabric bag containing shredded paper which had been thrown into the river. The next day they recovered a mobile phone and two tablets which had been dumped. Lord was arrested at his home in Corporation Road after trying to escape but police found him hiding by steps.

Neil Sargeant, director of operations at Newport Live, said the value of the items taken came to £10,000 but the majority of them had been recovered. The charity lost £3,000 in lost work hours and recorded a deficit budget for the first time.

A week before the burglary, Lord had broken into the home of Omaer Arafat and Mirdal Islam in Rugby Road, Newport, on May 3. Two laptops belonging to the students had been taken as well as a wallet belonging to Mr Arafat which contained bank cards. Attempts were made to use the bank cards, but only a payment of £48.50 was successful.

The defendant also stole vodka and pharmaceutical products from Iceland, Home Bargains and Poundland on April 12, 13 and 14. He pleaded guilty to burglary, fraud by false representation and theft.

Defence barrister Stuart John said his client was of previous good character but had become addicted to crack cocaine after suffering a shoulder injury in a car crash and he was made redundant from his job as a postman. The father-of-two’s relationship also broke down.

Lord was sentenced to a total of 20 months’ imprisonment.