Luxury car showroom raids netted £10,000 haul
The wheels were distinctive and considerably valuable, worth £3,000.
“In the second offence, it was tools that were taken, and the CCTV was very clear.”
Ms Burgess said the tools were not recovered but the wheels and tyres were, and that £9,700 of goods were taken in total.
Fletcher also pleaded guilty to being one of three men who stole £600 of champagne, Jack Daniel’s whiskey and food from Tesco’s store at Towers Place, South Shields, on March 3.
One of his co-accused has pleaded guilty and the other is awaiting trial.
Ellwood’s crimes put him in breach of a release licence after being freed from prison last September for a house burglary.
Jason Smith, defending Fletcher, said: “He does not have a great deal of previous convictions.
“He’sex-Army,hecameout in2016,helefttheservicesasa consequenceofsufferingposttraumatic stress disorder.
“He had been trying to access mental health services in Sunderland but hadn’t got help.Heturnedtodrugs,from cannabisandheisnowaddicted to cocaine.
“You will note that there’s a significant contrast between the record of Mr Fletcher and that of his co-accused. He’s not someone who commits offences of this nature.”
Gerry Armstrong, defending Ellwood, said: “I can’t argue against anything other than an immediate custodial sentence.”
The court heard Ellwood hadbeenrecalledtoprisonfor breaking the terms of his burglary release licence and will notbereleaseduntilJuly2021.
Both men were ordered to pay Mercedes-Benz £2,500 compensation.
Jobless Fletcher was given a four-month sentence for each burglary and must reside at Elizabeth Street, Seaburn, Sunderland, abide by a 12-week 10pm to 7am curfew and complete 20 days of rehabilitationworkwiththeProbation Service.