Gang of burglars are spared prison

A gang of young burglars who stole cars worth £ 90,000 from a house in Brighouse have avoided being locked up by judge. The trio got into the property on Woodhouse Lane on consecutive nights in May while the occupiers were on holiday and after finding the keys to two Mercedes cars and a Jaguar XK they drove off in the vehicles. Judge Peter Benson said 20-year- old Louis TaylorBroadfield had set up the burglary and had told his coaccused that there were ex- pensive cars at the house. Bradford Crown Court heard on Monday how the gang initially stole a Mercedes C Class on the first night, but they then went back to the house and took a Mercedes E Class and the Jaguar. Prosecutor Clare Benson said 19-year-old Daniel Harrison, who had no previous convictions, was linked to the offences after his Renault Clio car was caught on camera travelling in convoy with the stolen vehicles. After his arrest Harrison helped the police to recover the Mercedes cars and the court heard that the Jaguar vehicle was found with the aid of a tracker device fitted to it. Taylor-Broadfield and Jordan Fogarty,18, were also arrested as part of the police inquiry and each of the three defendants was ordered to do unpaid work for the community. Each of the defendants had pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and theft. Taylor- Broadfield, of Briarmans Road, Batley, was told he would have to do 300 hours unpaid work as part of a one-year community order while Fogarty, of Oxford Road, Cleckheaton, and Harrison, of Bradford Road, Liversedge, will each have to do 250 hours work. Miss Benson said the intruders also stole other items including a lap- top and a camera and the householders had been left with a bill of more than £3000 for repairing damage, recovering the stolen vehicles and replacing the stolen car keys. Harrison, who is in work, was ordered to pay compensation of £500 while Taylor-Broad- field must pay the complainants £200 compensation out of his benefits. The judge could not make a compensation order in Fogarty’s case because he did not have any income. Judge Benson told all three defendants that the offences had been pre-planned and had involved vehicles of high value which happily had all been recovered. He said all three defendants could think themselves very lucky to have avoided sentences of immediate custody.