(Image: Durham Constabulary)
A lookout man who kept watch outside a family home as a hooded accomplice burgled the property has been jailed.
Both men then fled in the family’s car, from outside the targeted home, which went in to crash.
Although the masked intruder who took the car was never traced, his partner in crime was identified as Dwayne Grimes after police reviewed CCTV footage from near the burgled property in Newton Aycliffe.
Durham Crown Court was told the family, including children, living at the address in Scott Place, were present but sleeping when the burglary took place, in the early hours of June 13 this year.
Cole Cockburn, prosecuting, said they were awoken later by police and told their Volvo car had been in a collision.
Third-strike burglar Dwayne Grimes received an 876-day prison sentence for his role as 'look-out' in house break-in and passenger in car taken from targeted home
(Image: Durham Constabulary)
CCTV footage showed a hooded figure arriving on a bicycle before dismounting and approaching the back door at 4.30am.
He entered the house for a few minutes, then left and returned 15 minutes later with Grimes.
Mr Cockburn said the defendant appeared to act as lookout while the intruder went back inside, before both men emerged and climbed into the Volvo parked at the rear of the property.
It was later discovered car keys, an e-scooter and a charger had been taken from the house.
The damaged Volvo was found three-quarters of a mile away in Stainmore Crescent, where further CCTV checks showed the driver trying to restart it after colliding with a parked Seat.
Although both the driver and Grimes ran away, the defendant was later arrested and claimed to have been asleep at the time of the burglary.
In his victim statement, read to the court, the householder said it had affected him and his family, “in a big way”.
He used the car to provide transport for two disabled family members, including on hospital trips, while he used the stolen scooter, himself, to get to work.
The thought of a masked man wandering around his home was described as “very scary” and it had left his wife suffering anxiety.
He said he has feelings of insecurity in his own home and now double-checks windows and doors, while he is often disturbed at the slightest sound outside at night.
The insurance excess for the scooter and car had cost him £500 alone, apart from the related disruption.
Grimes, 39, of Rowan Place, Newton Aycliffe, admitted charges of burglary and aggravated vehicle taking at a plea hearing last month.
The sentencing hearing was told he has 35 convictions for 50 offences, including seven past thefts and two burglaries.
Mr Cockburn added that even as the look-out rather than the person entering the house, the conviction makes him a third-strike domestic burglar, triggering a mandatory minimum three-year sentence.
Cainan Lonsdale, in mitigation, said letters of apology from Grimes were passed on to the court, including one intended for the victim of the burglary.
Mr Lonsdale said without seeking to “minimise” the defendant’s role, he was the lookout in the burglary and the passenger in the car taken from outside the targeted home.
He also told the court the defendant had been blighted by an elevation to hard drug use since suffering three family tragedies in recent years but said he was ashamed of his offending and it has served as “a wake-up call” to him on reflection, while in custody.
Recorder Mark McKone said it was “fortunate” none of the family members was awoken during the burglary and so there was no confrontation.
But he said they have still suffered the trauma of the break-in, the knock-on effects of the loss of the car and scooter and the subsequent inconvenience and financial outlay necessary.
The Recorder said there was clearly some planning and no exceptional circumstances to prevent him passing the mandatory minimum three-year prison sentence.
But he did deduct 20 per cent from the sentence to mark the defendant’s admissions at the plea hearing, taking the length of the sentence to one of 876 days, just above two-and-a-half years.
He also banned the defendant from driving for a year upon his release from prison on licence.
The Recorder added that he hoped the defendant can manage to stay out of trouble and deal with his drug issues in future.