Rogue builder who stole jewellery and cash from Harrogate couple jailed

A rogue builder hooked on gambling and cocaine stole prized jewellery from a Harrogate couple who entrusted him with the key to their house.

Sam Brotherston, 32, from Hampsthwaite, was contracted to renovate the couple’s home on Beckwith Road and was left to his own devices while the victims were out at work, York Crown Court heard.

Soon enough, the couple, who had pinned their hopes on Brotherston converting the property into their dream home, started noticing money and jewellery going missing from an upstairs bedroom, said prosecutor Sam Roxborough.

He said the couple were quoted over £13,000 for the work including building materials and labour.

Brotherston, who was self-employed, asked for £4,289 to buy materials such as a door and steel joist for work which was not only never completed, but left the couple with an open sewer in their kitchen and demolished walls. 

To add insult to injury, he never bought the materials and instead spent it on his rampant gambling and cocaine habit.

Initially trusting of Brotherston, the couple handed him the money and he began work on the property in March last year when the named victims gave him a key to their house.

But on March 18, just nine days into the job, the female victim noticed £20 was missing from her purse. Just under two weeks later, she noticed that more cash had disappeared while she was away from home.

Brotherston had helped himself to £80 in total, as well as two white gold rings, which had also been kept in the bedroom. 

The victim did her own investigatory work by visiting pawnbrokers in Harrogate to see if Brotherston had tried to sell her jewellery. She found one of her rings up for sale in a local jeweller’s.

Mr Roxborough said:

“Unfortunately, one of the rings was scrapped by the jeweller’s.”

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Police recovered the other ring when they turned up at the jeweller’s a few days later.

Staff told officers that Brotherston had sold three other gold and silver rings at the jewellers. He stole those pieces from a friend while carrying out work at her home in Brunswick Drive, Harrogate.

The victim, who was named in court, didn’t want to press charges because she was a friend of Brotherston’s family, but he admitted stealing her rings. 

Mr Roxborough said the Beckwith Road couple were devastated to hear that Brotherston, of Hollins Lane, Hampsthwaite, had used the money deposited into his account to place bets “at various betting establishments”.

He was arrested following an investigation and charged with burglary, two counts of theft and one of fraud. He admitted all four offences and appeared for sentence today.

‘Sick to the stomach’

The female victim of the Beckwith Road offences said she and her husband had trusted Brotherston, only for him to steal from them on three separate occasions over a period of nearly a month.

She said the rings were of sentimental value and she had been left feeling “violated, scared, shocked and saddened”, and she was now struggling to sleep.

One of the rings, which was never recovered, belonged to her husband’s grandmother and one was a wedding gift. The other was a present for her 30th birthday.

She said:

“Seeing the rings for sale in the pawnbrokers was shocking and left me feeling sick to the stomach.”

She was now scared to be alone in her home and she and her husband had changed all the locks and installed security cameras.

She said that Brotherston’s shoddy, “half-completed” work had left them with an open sewer and that walls had been knocked down which would need rebuilding. Wires were “hanging out of the walls” and the living room was left a mess. 

She added:

“This work was going to complete our dream of providing a lovely family home for my young children to grow up in.

“This is devastating. It’s going to be hard for me to trust anybody again.”

She and her husband were now faced with spending the same amount of money again to put right what Brotherston had ruined. 

‘Damaging acts of dishonesty’

Defence barrister Emma Williams said that Brotherston, a father-of-one, had been caught up in a “gambling and drug-use cycle” but that his behaviour was “out of character”. The offences had led to the break-up of the relationship with his partner. 

Judge Sean Morris described Brotherston’s offences as “very mean and hurtful and damaging acts of dishonesty”.

He told Brotherston: 

“You were snorting your way through cocaine bought with £10,000 worth of gambling winnings. No doubt having blown all that, you then decided that you needed (the victims’) money to carry on snorting cocaine and enjoying the lifestyle.

“At the same time as you were pilfering hard-earned money from that couple and not doing the work that was required, you were creeping around their house going into their bedroom and you stole some rings that had real sentimental value.

“That’s had an awful effect on the lady of the house. They will have been left in a shocking situation and that is all down to your greed and dishonesty.”

Mr Morris said the offences were “too mean” and “appalling” for there to be anything other than an immediate jail sentence.

Brotherston was jailed for 13 months. 

Police officer cleared of sexual assault in Harrogate

A police officer has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at a cemetery in Harrogate.

Christopher Hudson, 32, a Harrogate police constable, was accused of assaulting the woman in a car park at Stonefall Cemetery on Wetherby Road.

However, following a trial at Leeds Crown Court, a jury today unanimously acquitted Mr Hudson of the allegation.

The prosecution had alleged that Mr Hudson had stroked the woman on the back of the neck and ear and “pulled her…towards him” before kissing her.

Prosecuting barrister Gerald Hendron alleged that Mr Hudson then took hold of her hand and placed it on an intimate part of his body despite her telling him “no” repeatedly.

He alleged that Mr Hudson then put his hand on the woman’s inner thigh and that she was “shocked and confused”.

Mr Hendron said the woman had sought help from a counsellor about stress which was brought on by the alleged incident in February 2021.

‘Inconsistencies’

However, defence barrister Rebecca Hadgett said there were “inconsistencies” in the woman’s account of events and that Mr Hudson “never touched her in the way she alleges”.

Mr Hudson, of Hollin Terrace, Huddersfield, was arrested in March 2021 when he denied sexually assaulting the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He was suspended from his job pending the outcome of the trial.

Mr Hudson, who worked for West Yorkshire Police before joining the North Yorkshire force in 2020, walked free from the dock when the jury returned its verdict a short time after retiring to deliberate.

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Man denies two counts of attempted murder in Beckwithshaw

A man will face trial accused of two counts of attempted murder following an incident in a village near Harrogate.

The man, in his 40s, appeared at Leeds Crown Court today when he pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted murder. The alleged victims cannot be named for legal reasons.

The defendant, of Otley Road, Beckwithsaw, was arrested following an incident in the village on June 20 last year.

Mrs Justice Lambert adjourned the case for a trial at the same court on March 27. It’s expected to last five days.

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Two men spared jail for attacking Harrogate neighbour with iron bar

Two middle-aged Harrogate men who took it in turns to beat a man with an iron bar have been spared jail.

Stuart Hall, 50, and David Winter, 49, set about the victim outside his house following a neighbours’ dispute that turned into terrifyingly ugly violence.

Prosecutor Richard Holland said it was the named victim who started the trouble when he came out of his home brandishing an iron bar and using the weapon to strike both Winter and Hall, who lived next door.

Mr Holland said that Hall and the victim “did not get on”.

The victim was aggrieved that Hall, who ran a repair garage, parked his cars outside his home and Hall complained about his neighbour feeding birds which had soiled his roof.

Matters came to a head on July 31 last year when Hall and Winter, who are close friends, returned from the pub.

The victim came running out of his house with an iron bar and struck them with it, but the two men wrestled the weapon from him and “responded with overwhelming force”, said Mr Holland.

They struck the victim with the metal bar and Winter punched him repeatedly after he was knocked to the ground.

Threats to kill

Neighbours recorded the violence which showed that Winter had “completely lost control”.

Hall was punching and striking the prone victim with the weapon as he crouched over him. The court heard Winter added expletives as he shouted:

“I’m going to kill you. Don’t you ever cross us again.”

Winter continued to punch the victim as he told him:

“You are going to die. People are going to kill you.”

He then kicked the victim repeatedly while he was lying helpless on the ground.

Witnesses said both men were hitting the victim with the iron bar at different points during the attack. Mr Holland said:

“They left him lying on the floor and he [then] staggered into his address.”

Neighbours called police who arrived to find the victim “covered in blood”.

He suffered bruising including to his cheekbone and near his eye and a 4cm cut to the back of his head which had to be glued shut. He also suffered a broken finger.

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Hall, of Larkfield Drive, and Winter, of Newby Crescent, admitted wounding. Winter also admitted making a threat to kill.

They appeared for sentence at York Crown Court yesterday, when the prosecution read out a statement from the victim who said he was now “really paranoid” and “always looking over my shoulder” when out in public.

He said the attack had affected his mental health.

Following their arrest, Hall and Winter, who are both working men with families, told police that the victim had come running out of his house brandishing the iron bar and shouting, “Come on then!”

Mr Holland said that Winter had played the “leading role” in the ensuing attack which was “prolonged and persistent”.

Robert Mochrie, representing both defendants, said they were both remorseful and neither man had been in trouble before.

‘Out of character’

Judge Simon Hickey told the two men:

“Both of you know at your age, 49 and 50, you shouldn’t be standing in a crown court dock in front of a crown court judge.”

He said although the victim had started the trouble, they had “attacked a man on the ground [with an] evil weapon”, adding:

“You could have killed him or left him with life-changing injuries.”

He criticised Winter for his “obscene remarks” to the victim and threats to kill, although acknowledged they were “completely out of character”.

He also noted that the two defendants had been injured themselves and one had been struck on the forehead with the iron bar.

Mr Hickey said that despite the seriousness of the violence, he could suspend the inevitable jail sentences in both their cases because they would lose their jobs and their homes if they were imprisoned and the impact on their families would be “devastating”.

Winter was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and Hall received a nine-month suspended jail term. They were each ordered to carry out 100 hours’ unpaid work and pay £600 prosecution costs.

Ripon man jailed for stabbing and biting police during ‘horrifying’ scenes

A man has been jailed for nearly five years for stabbing a young soldier in a “horrifying” attack in Ripon and biting police officers following his arrest.

Kyle Harpin, 34, went ballistic after a woman rejected his advances in a bar in the city centre and turned her attention to the victim instead, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Aggrieved by this rejection, Harpin crept up on the victim outside in the street and pulled out a 19-inch blade from the waistband of his trousers, said prosecutor Ben Campbell.

He pressed the knife against the victim’s throat, causing a cut to the front of his neck.

The victim walked away but Harpin, who was drunk, followed him down the street. He then stabbed the young man in the side of his stomach, causing a four-centimetre puncture wound.

The victim thought he had been punched but later realised he had been stabbed after noticing blood trickling from a wound to the side of his body, said Mr Campbell.

He was taken to Harrogate District Hospital and was discharged the following day after scans revealed no serious or life-threatening injuries.

Ripon night out

Mr Campbell said the victim had been out with friends for a night out in Ripon. By the end of the night, at about 4am on October 16 last year, he got talking to, and then kissed, the woman whom Harpin had tried to chat up in the bar earlier in the evening.

Unbeknown to the victim, Harpin was watching them while concealing a knife inside his waistband. Mr Campbell said:

“(Harpin) approached (the victim) from behind and put the knife to his throat.”

When the victim tried to walk away, Harpin plunged the knife into his side and then jogged off.

Leeds Crown Court. Picture: the Stray Ferret.

Harpin was was jailed for four years at Leeds Crown Court.

The victim, who was also drunk, said it felt “like a punch to the left side of his ribs” but then “looked down and could see he was bleeding”.

His friends took him to his army camp nearby where he was treated in the guard room before being taken to hospital where medical staff applied steri strips to his neck and a puncture dressing to the torso wound.

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Harpin, of Priest Lane, Ripon, was arrested and became “agitated and aggressive” with officers as they escorted him to custody, repeatedly banging his head against the police van and swearing at them.

He was taken to Harrogate hospital due to his repeated butting of the police vehicle. His handcuffs were removed to allow staff to check his blood pressure, but Harpin then threatened to punch the officers, before lunging at one of them and grabbing an officer by the throat in a chokehold. Mr Campbell added:

“He then shouted repeatedly that he was going to bite the nose from her face.”

He then tried to headbutt another officer before biting him on the hand. Harpin was arrested again and continued to hurl abuse at officers, including racial slurs. Mr Campbell said:

“He was making other threats that he would rape the wives of a police officer.”

Police found the knife, which was encased in a black sheath, in an alleyway in Ripon.

Charged with attempted murder

Harpin was initially charged with attempted murder of the stab victim but denied this and ultimately offered a plea to an alternative charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. This plea was accepted by the prosecution and the attempted-murder charge was dropped.

He was also charged with carrying a blade, threatening a person with a knife, two counts of assaulting a police officer and racially aggravated threatening behaviour towards one of the constables. He admitted the offences and appeared for sentence via video link yesterday.

The court heard he had 23 previous convictions for over 30 offences dating back 20 years including theft, assaulting and resisting police officers, public disorder and battery.

Defence barrister Robert Mochrie said Harpin had drug and alcohol issues in the past and been diagnosed with mental health problems following a troubled upbringing, but conceded that the incident in Ripon was a “horrifying scene”.

Judge Tom Bayliss KC said although Harpin was “no stranger to trouble with the police”, his latest offences were “of a different order” to those he had committed in the past. He added:

“Because what you have now demonstrated is that you are perfectly prepared to go out at night on the streets of Ripon armed with a knife and to threaten people with it and to use it to inflict injury or serious injury.”

He said the young soldier “must have been terrified” when Harpin drew out the blade and noted that Harpin had “already threatened others with it”. Mr Bayliss said:

“It’s purely good fortune that he did not suffer more serious injuries.”

He said he was “quite satisfied” Harpin posed a risk of harm to the public and therefore found him to be a dangerous offender in the eyes of the law.

Harpin, who clutched Rosary beads during his court appearance from a custody suite, was jailed for four years and nine months and was told he would only become eligible for parole two-thirds the way through that sentence, and only then if the parole board deemed him fit to be released.

As a dangerous offender, Harpin was also ordered to serve an extended three-year period on prison licence.

 

 

Harrogate police officer sexually assaulted woman while on duty, trial hears

A Harrogate police officer sexually assaulted a woman at a cemetery in Harrogate while he was on duty, it’s alleged.

Christopher Hudson, 32, assaulted the woman in a car park at Stonefall Cemetery on Wetherby Road, the prosecution told a jury at Leeds Crown Court.

Prosecuting barrister Gerald Hendron said Hudson, who was serving as a police constable based at Harrogate Police Station at the time of the alleged incident, stroked the woman on the back of the neck and ear and “pulled her…towards him”.

He then kissed her, but she repeatedly told him “No”. 

Mr Hendron added:

“She started to panic but he continued.

“He took hold of her hand and moved it on (an intimate part of his body).

“The defendant had his hand (near an intimate part of her body) and touched her there.”

She later told friends about what happened and how “shocked and confused” she had been during and after the incident.

Mr Hendron said:

“She feared she would not be believed.”

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She sought help from a counsellor about stress which was brought on by the alleged incident in February 2021. 

Hudson, of Hollin Terrace, Huddersfield, was arrested in March of that year when he denied sexually assaulting the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He denies one count of sexual assault.

The trial continues. 

Harrogate police officer found guilty of sex assault

A Harrogate police officer has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at a property in North Yorkshire.

Joseph McCabe, 27, had only been married six weeks when the incident occurred in 2021.

The victim, who was not in a relationship with McCabe, “froze in fear” after the officer “stroked” her on the arm arm and then badgered her for sex, York Magistrates’ Court heard.

Prosecutor Richard Blackburn said when the victim rejected McCabe’s advances, he grabbed or “yanked” her hair and dragged her off a bed, before demanding she had sex with him.

He said that McCabe, a devout Roman Catholic who had drunk about seven pints that night, placed his hand on the woman’s inner thigh and on her back and then lifted her onto a bed, before lying next to her and staring at her. Mr Blackburn said:

“He took hold of her arm and began to stroke it.”

When the woman asked him what he was doing, McCabe made no reply.

Mr Blackburn said the woman was scared and made it clear she didn’t want to have sex.

About 30 minutes later, McCabe started shouting, “Get into…bed now”, added Mr Blackburn.

She again spurned his advances.

McCabe, who had been in his policing job since early 2020, later apologised for his behaviour, telling the woman he had “reverted back to being my teenage self” and had made an “ill-judged, romantic” advance. However, he denied his actions were sexual in nature.

The woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, later reported the incident to police.

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McCabe, of Kingsley Park Road, Harrogate, was brought in for questioning and gave police a prepared statement claiming he was drunk at the time. He admitted lifting the woman and putting her down on a bed but denied his behaviour was sexual.

He said he thought that “matters were developing” between them during the incident in the early hours of the morning, and that he had “stupidly” tried to kiss the woman. Mr Blackburn added:

“He said she made it clear that was not what she wanted and he then apologised.”

McCabe, who was suspended by North Yorkshire Police pending the outcome of the trial, denied pulling the woman’s hair and demanding that she get into bed with him, and said he fell asleep after she made it clear she didn’t want sex.

He was charged with one count of sexual assault but denied the offence. At the trial, which resumed today after the prosecution opening in October last year, McCabe, wearing a smart suit, took to the stand to state his case.

‘Wholeheartedly’ denied allegation

He said he “wholeheartedly” denied the allegation and had done nothing more than try to kiss the woman.

The victim said McCabe picked her up and placed her on a bed and that “nothing was said, which I found quite creepy”. She added:

“He laid on the bed next to me and then he took hold of my hand and (his hand) went up my arm in a stroking motion.”

She said McCabe was moving his hand towards an intimate part of her body, but no contact was made. She said:

“At first I was a bit shocked and couldn’t work out what he was doing.

“I said, ‘What do you think are you doing?’ I perceived that he was trying to have sex with me.”

She said she pointed to the Crucifix that McCabe was wearing and said:

“Aren’t you meant to be religious? What are you doing?”

“I turned away from him at that point because I didn’t want him to think I was interested in him.”

However, she then “felt my (hair) bun get pulled and I was ragged to the floor”.

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She said she was “shouting and swearing” and telling him “don’t touch me”. She added:

“I remember shaking a lot and I didn’t know what to do.

“I just froze in fear. I was in shock.”

She said that during the “horrible” incident, McCabe had “terrified” her and at one stage she feared she might be raped.

Mr Blackburn said the victim “couldn’t get over what happened” and that McCabe had placed her on the bed as a “prelude to something else”.

McCabe’s barrister Kevin Baumber read out character testimonies from friends of McCabe, one of whom was his sports coach.

One of McCabe’s gym friends described him as a “hard-working, kind-natured individual” who took “great pride” in his work.

His sports coach and best friend said McCabe was a “fun guy but has always been serious and sensible, someone I would go to in a crisis”.

He said McCabe had always been “respectful” towards women “for as long as I’ve known (him)”.

Evidence ‘not credible’

But district judge Tan Ikram shot down McCabe’s claims that the victim had been lying or “reimagining” the events.

He said although McCabe was otherwise a “man of good character” and that there was “nothing to suggest you have done anything like this (before)”, there was “always a first time”.

Mr Ikram pointed to inconsistencies in McCabe’s own evidence, including his claim that if the victim had consented to a kiss he had no idea “where it could have ended up”. Nr Ikram added:

“That to me just did not seem credible.

“You have a woman in a bed and have no idea where it would end up? Your evidence today has not been credible.

“You can give no credible explanation as to why (the victim) would make up such a serious allegation. She was telling the truth about what happened that night, I’m sure of that.

“On the other hand, (you) were cautious in your answers (having had) plenty of time to think about it. You have elaborated to try to make innocent sense of what you did.

“I’m sure that your intentions throughout were sexual.”

The judge said he believed the victim’s account that there were “several incidents that night beyond the original attempt to kiss her”.

He told McCabe:

“She never consented and you knew she didn’t and you certainly knew in relation to the encounters where you dragged her by the hair and demanded that she get into your bed, and for those reasons I find you guilty of the offence.”

McCabe sobbed uncontrollably as the judge delivered his verdict.

Sentence was adjourned to March 31.

Harrogate cannabis gardener jailed after £250,000 farm found

A Vietnamese cannabis gardener has been jailed after police found him ensconced in a huge drug factory surrounded by hundreds of marijuana plants worth nearly a quarter of a million pounds.

Manh Nguyen, 18, was arrested at the house in West Lea Avenue, Harrogate, where he had been tending 460 plants inside a sophisticated cannabis factory equipped with irrigation and temperature systems, York Crown Court heard.

Nguyen, of no fixed address, was charged with being concerned in the production of a Class B drug but denied the allegation, claiming he had been trafficked to the UK to work as a cannabis gardener and was a victim of modern slavery.

The teenager was due to face trial today but entered a last-minute guilty plea to the charge, notwithstanding the fact the authorities had found he had been trafficked and was working effectively as a modern slave. 

The Crown proceeded straight to sentence knowing that any jail sentence would be negated by the amount of time Nguyen had spent on remand.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said police discovered the bumper cannabis harvest on August 11 last year after raiding the property in Harrogate. 

She added:

“They found inside a total of 460 cannabis plants spread across the rooms of the house.

“The defendant was the only person present at the property. The cannabis grow is estimated to be worth up to £210,000.

“There was a significant amount of equipment recovered including an irrigation system and temperature controls.

“(Nguyen) was found sleeping on a mattress in the front room. It is essentially accepted that he was a gardener given instructions over the phone to water the plants on a daily basis.

“He was seen by neighbours outside the property but only as far as the front of the garden.”

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She said it was “clear that (Nguyen) was performing a limited role” in the drug enterprise and that he didn’t see a penny of the profits. 

Ms Morrison added:

“Clearly, he was a vulnerable young adult and there has been a finding by the (authorities) that he has been trafficked.”

Defence barrister Harry Crowson said Nguyen had come to the UK after being trafficked from Vietnam. He quickly found himself being in debt to his criminal bosses and “taking instructions for a period of time”.

He said that at one stage Nguyen escaped from his criminal bosses and was given social housing, but the criminal gang found him and “brought him back to this same life”.

He said Nguyen’s captors had given him instructions to keep the front garden tidy by cutting the grass, but only gave him a pair of scissors with which to do so.

Mr Crowson said neighbours saw Nguyen performing the pathetic task “either under instruction to keep the grass tidy or because he was in the property with nothing else to occupy his time”.

Mr Crowson added:

“He is very young and came to this country for a better life.”

He said that Nguyen had been on custodial remand since August last year and had already served the equivalent of a one-year-jail sentence.

Used as a ‘modern slave’

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, addressed Nguyen through a Vietnamese interpreter and told the teenager: 

“It’s quite clear you have been used or (you were) what is termed these days a modern slave.

“You were living on a mattress (and) there is nothing to suggest you (made) any money whatsoever from this criminality.

“It’s a common story that people are hoodwinked into thinking they can get work and they are abused in this way.”

He said that had Nguyen played a “leading role…in this cannabis factory”, he would have given him “as long a sentence as I possibly could”, but that wasn’t the case.

Nguyen received an eight-month jail sentence, but he had already served the equivalent period on remand.

However, the judge warned him: 

“Whether you are released from custody will be a matter for the Home Office.”

The court heard that the authorities were looking into Nguyen’s possible deportation.

Man jailed for racial harassment and carrying weapon in Harrogate

A notorious Harrogate criminal has been jailed yet again, this time for racially aggravated threatening behaviour and carrying a Stanley knife in the town centre.

Graham McMillan, 38, was found shirtless and drinking beer in the middle of the road after police were called out to reports of an incident at Chico’s takeaway in Commercial Street.

York Crown Court heard that McMillan was swearing and shouting racial slurs, even when police warned him about his behaviour.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said that when officers searched McMillan, they found a Stanley knife in his jeans pocket.

He was arrested and charged with racially aggravated harassment or threatening behaviour and carrying a bladed article.

He appeared for sentence today via a video link from Wealstun Prison as he was already in custody serving a 42-week prison sentence imposed in September last year for carrying a hammer and swearing at people in the town centre.

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That offence occurred on August 28, just four days after McMillan was arrested for the new offences.

Ms Morrison said the racially aggravated incident occurred on August 24 – the same day that McMillan had been given a two-month suspended prison sentence for possessing heroin and cocaine.

Police were initially called out to the Asda supermarket on Bower Road following reports that McMillan had tried to steal a crate of beer.

This incident did not result in any criminal charges, but later that same day, just before midnight, police received a further report that McMillan was at Chico’s takeaway and was refusing to leave.

Ms Morrison said:

“When police arrived, they found him in the middle of the street, topless, drinking from a bottle of beer.”

She said McMillan was “swearing abuse” and shouting out deeply offensive racial slurs aimed at staff at the takeaway.

When police warned him about his behaviour, McMillan drunkenly replied: 

“I don’t give a fxxx – do me for racism.”

McMillan – formerly of Harlow Moor Drive, Harrogate, but currently of no fixed address – had 31 previous convictions for 56 offences including threatening and racially aggravated behaviour, carrying a blade, possessing an offensive weapon in public and “many” road-traffic matters and breaches of court orders. 

Defence barrister Jennifer Coldham said McMillan had mental-health issues. He intended to return to Harrogate upon his release from the inevitable jail sentence.

Judge Simon Hickey said it was clear that McMillan committed offences “under the influence of drink and drugs”.

McMillan was handed a six-month jail sentence, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.

Harrogate burglar jailed after ‘audacious’ raid of £10k worth of clothes

A prolific Harrogate burglar has been jailed for two years after stealing £10,000 of clothes from a warehouse in two audacious break-ins on the same night.

Aaron Herbert, 49, and an unnamed man drove from Harrogate to the commercial warehouse in York in a stolen VW Golf, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Michael Cahill said CCTV footage showed Herbert and the driver getting out of the vehicle and being joined by two other people including a woman outside the warehouse in an industrial compound on Malton Road, Stockton-on-the-Forest.

One of the men used bolt croppers to cut the lock of the warehouse doors to break in. 

Mr Cahill added:

“A short time later, the two who arrived on foot left, leaving (Herbert) and the driver in the warehouse,

“CCTV showed the defendant and his accomplice going in and out of the warehouse…with stock from the warehouse, particularly coats.”

The burglars got back in the car and drove off after bagging £5,000 of loot in the raid, which occurred at about 11pm on December 11 last year. Herbert, who was a disqualified driver, was at the wheel. 

Shortly afterwards, in the early hours of the following morning, Herbert drove back to the warehouse and was again with another man. 

Mr Cahill said:

“The men made numerous trips in and out of the warehouse, stealing various items of clothing.”

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CCTV showed Herbert coming out of the warehouse with a bundle of coats – one of which he was wearing. 

Mr Cahill said that about £5,000 of clothes were stolen in this second raid, and £10,000 in total.

Herbert then drove the Volkswagen away from the loading-bay doors to make way for his 

accomplice to drive out in a “mini” vehicle which he had stolen from inside the warehouse. 

They then carefully closed the warehouse doors to make it look “as if nothing had happened”.

Herbert drove off in the VW and his accomplice drove away in the stolen warehouse vehicle. 

However, it didn’t take police long to coming knocking at Herbert’s door as he was immediately identified from CCTV footage. 

The two stolen vehicles were both found in Harrogate’s Fairfax Avenue.

‘Audacious’ raid

Herbert, of Deane Place, Harrogate, was arrested on December 15 and charged with two counts of burglary, taking a vehicle without consent and driving while disqualified and without insurance. 

He admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today.

Mr Cahill said Herbert had taken the VW car after a sneak-in burglary at a named woman’s home in Harrogate in which her car keys were stolen.

Herbert’s 22-year criminal career comprised 27 previous convictions for 85 offences including burglary and 24 theft and kindred offences. 

Defence barrister Harry Crowson said that Herbert, a long-standing heroin addict, had spent most of his time in prison in recent years. 

Judge Simon Hickey described the burglaries as “audacious”.

He told Herbert: 

“You were seen emptying the warehouse of a significant amount of clothes (which represents) a significant economic loss.”

He said the burglaries involved “significant planning” and that Herbert was now at risk of becoming “institutionalised”.

Herbert will serve half of the two-year jail sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence. He was also given a two-year driving ban.