THIEVES ADMIT RAID ON CHARITY SHOP
MONEY AND CLOTHING TAKEN FROM BARNARDO’S
Three brazen burglars have admitted stealing cash after smashing their way into a Sunderland charity shop.
Brian Redman, 36, and George Lumsden, 45, raided the Barnardo’s store on The Green, Southwick, shortly after 10pm on March 21.
They, along with a 17-year-old male who cannot be named for legal reasons, forced their way into the shop and pocketed money and items of clothing.
Officers attended the scene and detained the three males nearby.
Police went on to locate bags of clothes belonging to the charity discarded in the Southwick Green area, while the shop’s new till – which cost more than £3,000 and had only just been installed – was also found smashed up.
Redman, Lumsden and the juvenile all pleaded guilty to burglary and handling stolen goods when they appeared before magistrates in South Tyneside last week.
They are due to be sentenced in the next few weeks.
Pc Michael Urwin, of Northumbria Police, said: “For people to steal from a charity which supports some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in our communities is absolutely deplorable.
“Charities like this rely on the good-will of their volunteers and their supporters, who work all-year round in various fund-raising ventures. The selfish actions of these three individuals that night has inevitably caused a great deal of distress and anguish, and they must now live with the consequences of their actions.”
Redman, of Lichfield Road, Sunderland, and Lumsden, of Winslow Close, Sunderland, are due to next appear at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on June 12.
The 17-year-old juvenile from Sunderland is due to appear before South Tyneside Youth Court on Thursday.