WHEN burglars targeted an isolated house in a narrow country lane, the first thing they did was pull the security camera from the wall.
But the camera continued filming as it lay on its side on the ground – and the owner called the police after being alerted to the break-in by his computer-linked security system.
That led to one of the raiders, Dillan Beasmore, being caught after ramming a police car in his bid to escape, Warwick Crown Court has heard.
The 18 year-old, of Circular Road, Acocks Green, admitted charges of burglary, theft, causing criminal damage, and possessing cannabis – and was found guilty of dangerous driving.
He was sentenced to two years detention suspended for two years, ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work, made subject to a four-month electronically-monitored overnight curfew, and banned from driving for 18 months.
Prosecutor Ian Windridge said Beasmore was one of two men in a VW Passat which pulled up onto the drive of a house in Beoley one afternoon in August.
The first thing they did was pull a CCTV camera from the wall of the house before breaking in and stealing the keys to a Mercedes van parked outside.
But despite lying on its side on the ground, the camera kept recording as the two men, wearing dark clothing and hoods, hitched a trailer to the van.
One of them drove off in the van, which contained £3,000 worth of power tools, towing the £2,500 trailer, while the other followed in the Passat, which returned an hour later at 4.30pm.
The two men did further damage to the security cameras at the house before leaving – only to return once more at 5.20.
But by then the police had been contacted by the owner, who was on holiday but had been alerted to the break-in by his computer, which was linked to the house security system.
Officers turned up at the address and, with the police car blocking the exit from the drive, Beasmore rammed it with the Passat in a bid to escape, disabling both cars.
The two burglars made off on foot, but the officers had a police dog which gave chase, and Beasmore was caught and arrested, but made no comment when he was interviewed.
Delroy Henry, defending, said Beasmore had been in full-time employment, and had completed an apprenticeship to become a carpenter, but his life took a downturn when the company he worked for made a number of redundancies, and a relationship he had been in for some time broke down.
Sentencing Beasmore, Recorder Edward Coke told him: “You have no previous convictions, you have no background of antisocial behaviour, you come from a law-abiding family, and you have qualifications in a much sought-after skill.
“You have a lot going for you. It is hard to fathom why you behaved in such a criminal way, and to do so so persistently.
“My first reaction was immediate custody. But although you deserve immediate imprisonment, it seems a better course in the long term, for society as well as for you, is for that sentence to be suspended. This is a one-off chance.”
