Kentish Express Ashford & District
Female getaway driver jailed
A homeowner i n Molash returned to find her property being raided by a gang of thieves with a woman acting as the getaway driver.
But before victim Primrose Stanford could get to her home the burglars escaped in a waiting car – taking £400 worth of jewellery with them.
Ms Stanford managed to get part of the getaway vehicle’s registration number, which later led to the arrest of Tanya Page, 24, a court has heard.
Now, although the rest of the gang have never been traced, a jury at Canterbury Crown Court decided Page was the getaway driver for the attack in April last year.
Page, of Rosemary Road, East Malling, wept bitterly after being jailed for two years for the burglary. She had denied the offence.
Police had been alerted by Mrs Stanton, 71, and were then able to trace Page’s vehicle’s route using computer cameras that read car registration numbers.
Judge Adele Williams told Page she had been part of a gang that had deliberately targeted the victim’s isolated home.
She added: “You were convicted on clear and compelling evidence that you took part in this serious burglary.
“You were the driver of a car you had hired two week’s previously. You took the others to the scene of this break-in, and it was you who was seen by your victim.”
In her victim-impact statement, Ms Stanford said she had suffered previous break-ins at the property, where she’d lived for 45 years.
Judge Williams added: “When your victim returned home, she found you sitting in your car in her driveway. She later discovered the back door had been smashed, causing £600 worth of damage.
“There had also been an untidy search of the house and jewellery valued at £400 had been taken.
“You were, in my opinion, a member of a gang which carried out this attack.”