BURGLAR CLIMBED IN WINDOW AS KIDS WERE ASLEEP UPSTAIRS
Teen’s victims ‘now live in a state of fear’
A TEENAGE burglar has been locked up after sneaking inside a house while children slept upstairs to steal the family car.
Devon Bentley, aged 18, climbed in through a kitchen window that had been left ajar at the address in Highfield Avenue in Meir.
He then swiped the car keys before taking the vehicle with his accomplice. Now Bentley has been sentenced to 15 months in a young offenders’ institution.
Prosecutor Dean Easthope told Stoke-on-trent Crown Court: “The complainant had lived there for seven years with his wife and two children. He has a Toyota worth £500. He drove to work at 3pm and returned at 1am. He awoke at 7.30am and it was missing. The police were phoned.”
The court heard Bentley, pictured, was identified through DNA found at the address.
Mr Easthope continued: “CCTV was obtained from a neighbour’s address. It showed two males at the location at 2.50am. They were seen on his property getting into the car and stealing it at around 3am.”
Bentley, of no fixed address, and his accomplice then stole fuel from a petrol station. The car was located the next day at around 10pm several miles from where it was stolen.
In a victim impact statement,
the complainant said: “Me and my wife are unable to sleep. The incident has impacted deeply on not only myself but my kids and family. Nobody had any right to cause me financial, mental and emotional harm.”
Bentley – who has 11 convictions for 37 previous offences – pleaded guilty to burglary and stealing a motor vehicle on March 14 this year. Hamish Noble, mitigating, said: “There is a letter handwritten by the defendant in which he explains his history and the difficulties he was facing at the time. He is now 18-yearsold. This is his first offence as an adult. He was struggling at the time. He had been in a guest house for the previous four months. He was isolated from his family. He was previously in the care of social services because having been in care from the age of eight. He has a number of convictions.
“He says he went into the house on his own. He drove off in the vehicle. He had the car for a short while. He was arrested two weeks later on DNA evidence.
“He is a trusted prisoner with a job working in the recycling operations within the prison. He’s still young and understands he enters immediate custody but I ask you pass a sentence that doesn’t cause him to lose hope and can continue the good work and progress he has been making.”
Sentencing, Judge Graeme Smith told Bentley: “Burglaries can be surprisingly easy to carry out and gain very little in benefit. But they have a devastating impact on
lives. The family have said they are unable to sleep and live in a state of fear. You have had a number of matters to deal with in your life.
“You’re still young. You don’t magically become fully mature at the age of 18. It was purely opportunistic. The window was open.”
Bentley was sentenced to 15 months in a young offenders’ institution.