A drug addict was persuaded to burgle a Colsterworth company to repay his debts to his suppliers.
It was third time unlucky for Dean Keith Mohammed, 22, who tried to enter the premises of Associated Timber Services on November 7, 2011, by cutting a hole in the perimeter fence and smashing a window, but he set off the alarm and ran away.
Mohammed, of Mussons Close, Corby Glen, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one of attempted burglary at Grantham Magistrates’ Court.
Jim Clare, prosecuting, told the court that on the first occasion between September 30 and October 3, 2011, the duty manager had locked the front gates as the last person out of the building.
When he returned on the Monday morning he found the office block broken into and that every unlocked room had been entered.
An untidy search had been made of the building and four computers, landline and mobile phones had been stolen.
On the second occasion, later that month, three computers and phones were stolen.
Again a hole had been cut in the fence and a window smashed in the canteen.
On November 7, 2011, a third attempt to burgle the premises failed when a newly fitted alarm was triggered.
Mr Clare said the defendant was caught when another man went into Barclays Bank to pay a cheque in, in the name of the company director whose cheque book had gone missing.
When arrested, he said Mohammed had asked him to cash the cheque.
In a statement, the comp- any director said that more than £8,400 worth of goods were stolen on the first occasion and more than £6,300 worth was taken in the second burglary.
He said the company had lost more money in custom.
He added: “I do feel let down by the police and I think they should have done a lot more sooner.”
Mr Clare told the court that Mohammend had said he was in a lot of debt, to the tune of about £1,000.
He was addicted to MCAT and his suppliers suggested he burgle Associated Timber Services, a site he knew because his family owned a company nearby.
He burgled the company with another male and when he got the money he used it to pay for more drugs and petrol, and to pay off his debt.
Bill Fraser, defending, said that Mohammed was not the only person involved in the burglary, but the other male had “got off Scot free”.
He said Mohammed had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, was in work and had not committed any offences since.
The court handed Mohammed a 12 weeks sentence to run concurrently for all three offences, suspended for 12 months.
An order was made for him to undergo 12 months’ supervision and undertake 150 hours of unpaid work.
He was ordered to pay costs of £85.