Burglar used fishing rod to help steal car – then lived in it for two days
HOMELESS Mark Scott used a fishing rod to hook house keys through a letter box and stole a family car – so he could live in it.
A court heard the 31-year-old gained entry to the house while the victims were asleep and took items and the keys to a Nissan Qashqai, which he then lived in for two days.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the home raid left the homeowners’ autistic child distressed.
Prosecutor Ian Cook said the victim had gone out looking for his vehicle when he realised it had been taken during the raid at his home in
Walkergate, Newcastle, last October. He saw Scott, who was behind the wheel and mouthed “that’s my car” but the thief claimed he had just bought it and drove off.
While it was in his possession, Scott filled the car with £30 worth of petrol at a garage but drove off without paying for it.
It was two days after it was stolen that police located the vehicle parked up, with Scott and a pal asleep inside.
Mr Cook said: “Police received a report the Qashqai had been damaged and abandoned in West
Denton. Police attended the scene and located the stolen vehicle, with two males asleep inside. This defendant was in the driver’s seat.”
The court heard documents belonging to the vehicle’s owner were found dumped in nearby bushes but a £350 watch, a car seat and a coat that had been in the car were gone. The car had suffered some slight damage.
In a victim statement, the family said their son, who has autism, has struggled to come to terms with the fact that a burglar has been in the house. The court heard the family had planned to allow the children to “camp out” downstairs that night but it was cancelled at the last minute.
Mr Cook said: “The fear was, had that not happened, the children would have been confronted by the defendant.”
Scott, of no fixed address, who has convictions for 115 previous offences, including driving and dishonesty, denied burglary but was convicted by a jury after a trial.
He admitted theft of the vehicle, aggravated vehicle-taking, driving while disqualified and leaving the filling station without making payment.
Glenn Gatland, defending, said Scott had lost his job and his longterm relationship, and had been drinking excessively during the build-up to the offences.
Mr Gatland added: “He kept the car nearly two days.
“Mr Scott appeared to be sleeping and living in the vehicle.
“He says he had no roof over his head and had nowhere to stay, so sleeping in the Qashqai was one way to keep a roof over his head.”
Judge Stephen Earl sentenced Scott to four and a half years with a two-year driving ban, to start after his release.
The judge said the jail term would have been longer but the “regime in prison is significantly different now under pandemic terms” and that had to be taken into account.