Your number’s up! Dim burglars stole £5,000 scratch cards in raid not realising Camelot would cancel them all

MAN WHOSE DNA AND FINGERPRINT FOUND IN VAN ADMITS GUILT

SHOP burglars who stole £5,000 worth of scratch cards found their luck ran out – when the National Lottery organisors invalidated them.

Leicester Crown Court was told that only £87 worth of prize-winning cash was successfully claimed before the scratch cards were cancelled, rendering them all worthless.

One of the crooks, 31-year-old Jamie Saunders, was arrested after his fingerprint was found on a van used to ferry away stolen goods from the break-in at Dreamland Pan convenience store in Green Lane Road, Spinney Hills, Leicester.

His DNA was also found on a partially smoked cigarette in the vehicle.

Saunders, formerly of Ethel Road, Crown Hills, in the city, pleaded guilty to the burglary on Tuesday March 17 last year.

Catherine Picardo, prosecuting, said a neighbour heard the sound of smashing glass at about 1.30am and saw a white Mercedes Sprinter van, and took a photograph.

The witness saw two males with covered faces going into the premises while the getaway driver waited outside.

As well as the £5,000 haul of scratch cards, they stole four bottles of whisky, a quantity of cigarettes and £100 in cash – having caused damage to roller shutters that cost £200 to put right.

The abandoned hire van was later found in Fieldfare Walk, near St Saviour’s Road, Spinney Hills, and Saunders’ fingerprint was detected on the front passenger window and his DNA on the cigarette, said Miss Picardo.

A security camera captured Saunders in another store on Green Lane Road, near his mother’s home, cashing in some scratch cards before they were cancelled, said the prosecutor.

He was arrested five days later and could not explain why his fingerprint and DNA linked him to the van used to commit the offence.

Miss Picardo said Saunders had 40 offences on his record, including five non-dwelling burglaries.

She added: “This offence caused a significant loss to a small business.”

Esther Harrison, mitigating said: “It’s taken a year for him to be prosecuted.

“He was homeless at the time and drinking heavily. Since then he has got a flat, stopped drinking and has been engaging with Turning Point (rehabilitation centre).

“He’s been doing what he can to sort his life out, with no new offending and he’s looking to get a job.”

However, in April his own flat was burgled with items smashed, and he is now looking to move elsewhere, said Miss Harrison.

Saunders also admitted breaching a curfew, also in April, linked to an earlier suspended sentence, for which he was fined £20.

Recorder Stuart Sprawson said: “You’ve done a lot to turn your life around.

“You’ve also had the unpleasant experience of having had your home burgled and vandalised, so you know what it’s like.

“You’ve been addressing your alcohol abuse and kept out of trouble - you’ve done well.”

The recorder said the defendant’s progress amounted to “exceptional circumstances” and he was going to “test” him to see if he could stay crime free.

Saunders was given a threemonth jail sentence, suspended for 16 months.