Police are appealing for information after a number of high-value goods were stolen from a new build housing estate in Knaresborough.

Criminals targeted two homes which had yet to be completed on Lapwing Crescent on the Trinity Fields development between December 18 and 19, 2022.

A washing machine, dishwasher, oven and two showers were among the items stolen from the properties.

The burglars also stole two kitchen taps, 12 kitchen handles, 12 kitchen plinth lights, 10 downlights and a cooker hood.

A North Yorkshire Police statement said:

“As part of ongoing enquiries, officers are appealing for information about suspicious individuals or vehicles at around the time of the burglaries.

“Also, if anyone has been offered such items for sale since 19 December.

“If you can help, please email Jacob.higgins@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101, select option 2, and ask for Jacob Higgins.

“If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Please quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12220223539 when providing details.”

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North Yorkshire Police has released a CCTV image of a man it wants to speak to following a burglary at Ripon Rugby Club.

The clubhouse was broken into at 10.47pm on December 18 and bottles of alcohol were stolen from the bar.

Officers today appealed to the public to get in touch if they recognise the man pictured or know where he can be found.

A statement from police added:

“Anyone with any information is asked to email paul.griffiths@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Paul Griffiths.

“If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

“Please quote reference number 12220223467 when passing on information.”

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A man and woman have been arrested on suspicion of burgling a Harrogate hairdressers in the early hours of this morning.

The suspects, both in their 30s and from Harrogate, remain in police custody.

According to North Yorkshire Police, a man and woman were seen to break a window at Contemporary Salons’ studio on Station Parade at 3.56am. It added:

“The two people then entered the property and filled two bags with items before leaving the area in a taxi.”

It is the latest criminal attack this month on a Harrogate shop, with previous incidents reported at salon Dangerfield & Keane and James Barber Tobacconists on Cold Bath Road.

Police said in a statement:

“If you witnessed this incident or have any further information which could help the investigation, please email: pamela.luettke@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101 quoting reference 12220206294

“If you’d prefer to remain anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

According to its website, Contemporary Salons is a group of nine hair salons across north Yorkshire and Teesside

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A burglar raided a couple’s home while they slept and drove off with the husband’s Land Rover, but was later caught due to a tracking device the victim had connected to his vehicle.

Michael Balog, 21, was on prison licence and wore an immigration tag at the time of the burglary at the semi-detached home on Eleanor Road, Harrogate, in the early hours of August 31.

He broke in while the couple were asleep upstairs and stole a purse, wallet and the keys to the husband’s Land Rover Discovery, said prosecutor Neil Coxon at York Crown Court today.

He said that Balog was on an electronic tag at the time due to “matters concerned with immigration”.

The named victim, who had parked his 17-plate Land Rover outside, woke up the following morning to find that the front door of the house was ajar and his car keys and wallet had disappeared. His wife’s purse or handbag, containing bank cards, had also gone, as had his Land Rover, worth “many thousands of pounds”.

Mr Coxon told the court:

“Fortunately, he had both the car and his wallet fitted with a tracker device and that was connected to an app on his mobile [phone], and therefore he was able to track the vehicle to the location where he and police were able to recover it.

“He even had his keys attached to the tracker device.”

The tracking app enabled police to find the car keys, which had been hidden behind a loose brick in a wall at Balog’s home.

Balog, originally from the Czech Republic, had removed the mortar from around the brick and slipped the car keys into the cavity “like a spy’s ‘dead letter drop’”, before “carefully” putting the brick back in place.

Balog was brought in for questioning but initially denied all allegations. He was charged with burglary and theft of the Land Rover and ultimately admitted both offences.

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Balog, of Kennion Road, Harrogate, was charged with a third allegation of attempted burglary at a property on nearby Wetherby Road on the same night but denied this and the charge was allowed to lie on court file.

He appeared for sentence via video link today after being recalled to prison to serve the remainder of a previous jail sentence.

Mr Coxon said Balog had five previous convictions for eight offences including burglary, vehicle theft, handling stolen goods and drug dealing.

In August 2019, he was sentenced to 16 months in a young offenders’ institution for burglary.

In December 2020, he was jailed for over two years for dealing crack cocaine. He was released from jail in January this year when he was fitted with a tag to enable police to monitor his movements.

He was still subject to the tagging order and on prison licence when he targeted the family home on Eleanor Road.

Defence barrister Jeremy Barton said Balog had stolen to fund a drug habit and pay off drug debts.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, slammed Balog for “invading somebody’s house while [he] was asleep with his wife upstairs”.

“You took the keys and you took a vehicle that would have been worth many thousands of pounds.

“It is just good fortune that the [victim] had put a tracking device on the keys [which] were secreted in a ‘dead-letter drop’.

“Were it not for the tracker on the key fob, those keys would not have been found. There was good police work in this case.”

Jailing Balog for 22 months, the judge told him:

“You are yet again back before the courts (and) you only have yourself to blame.”

Balog will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

A man has been arrested following two burglaries in a village near Boroughbridge

North Yorkshire Police said they responded to a report of a man breaking into a house in Marton-cum-Grafton in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The suspect broke into the house while the owner was asleep, but later fled after the occupant woke up and startled them.

The man was later arrested after officers found them in a hedgerow nearby.

Later, police received reports of garden tools being stolen from a property nearby.

A man in his 40s from Barnsley was arrested on suspicion of burglary. Enquiries are ongoing for both incidents.

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Police have recovered a stolen Land Rover which had been taken from a driveway in Harrogate and charged a 21-year-old man.

The owner alerted North Yorkshire Police yesterday morning after finding the vehicle had been taken overnight.

The two-in-one burglary had seen the keys taken from the house before the offender made off with the Land Rover.

Officers tracked down the vehicle and, while checking local CCTV, saw the suspect trying the door handle on another home.

The 21-year-old suspect, also from Harrogate, was arrested and charged with burglary, attempted burglary, and theft of a motor vehicle.

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The owners of The Dale Stores in Birstwith have pledged to continue serving the village after suffering a “sickening” burglary.

Andrea and Matthew Walwyn were sleeping next door when thieves smashed two panes of glass on the front door to gain entry to their shop and post office at nine minutes past midnight on Friday.

They took stamps worth £3,000 and a quantity of cash.

The couple, who have run the Nidderdale business for 17 years, told the Stray Ferret the incident had shaken them and the community but they had been overwhelmed by messages of support.

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The shop has reopened and although the post office is currently closed Ms Walwyn said they would be back at full capacity as soon as possible.

She said:

“We are really shaken. It’s just sickening. We live next door and think of the shop as part of our home.

“People have come in saying they have never locked their doors but they are now.

“But we want to fully re-open as soon as possible.”

Last year The Dale Stores won an award in the Rural Oscars competition organised by the Countryside Alliance, receiving praise for its ‘great service and great produce’ and for maintaining a village post office.

Ms Walwyn said she had been taken aback by the kindness shown by villagers in recent days. One man arranged for builders to sort out the damaged door straight away.

A customer arranged to fix the door.

Mr Walwyn put a post on their Facebook page saying, “It’ll take more than a scumbag chancer to bring us down. Andrea and I are here this morning. Nice people are very welcome”.

It prompted nearly 300 likes and a barrage of supportive comments.

One said:

“After all you both went through yesterday to see you smiling today is what makes Birstwith village shop the best.”

North Yorkshire Police is investigating a burglary at a rural post office in Nidderdale.

Thieves entered the Dales Stores Post Office in Birstwith at nine minutes past midnight on Friday (August 5).

The suspects smashed two panes of glass on the front door and stole cash and a large amount of stamps with a high value.

A North Yorkshire Police statement added:

“Officers are asking members of the public to get in touch if they have any information, saw anything suspicious or can identify the person recorded on CCTV.

“In particular, offices are asking local residents if they have any CCTV or dash cam footage of vehicles in the area at the time of the burglary.

“Anyone with any information is asked to email leah.fitzsimons@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for PC 950 Fitzsimons.

“If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Please quote reference number 12220137553 when passing on information.”

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Police have arrested four teenagers after a burglary in Spofforth.

Officers were called to the village after reports of a break-in at a house in the early hours of this morning.

Three 16-year-olds were arrested on suspicion of burglary and a 15-year-old was arrested on suspicion of attempted burglary.

A North Yorkshire Police statement this afternoon confirmed that all four remain in custody and an investigation is ongoing.

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North Yorkshire Police has released CCTV images of a man thought to have information about a burglary at a home in Harrogate.

The burglary took place on Fawcett Drive in Harrogate at about 2am on Friday, May 6.

A man is reported to have entered a property and removed a wallet and cash. No further details have been released.

Police are asking members of the public to get in touch if they recognise the man in the images as they believe he could have information that will help the investigation.

Further CCTV images released by police of the man they want to talk to.

You can call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for PC 950 Fitzsimons or email leah.fitzsimons@northyorkshire.police.uk.

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The crime reference number 12220076667.

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