Burglar used garden gnome to break into Doncaster home

A South Yorkshire burglar who broke into a house by throwing a garden gnome through a window has been ordered to seek help for his drug habit.
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Lee Hartley broke into the four-bed house on Warmsworth Road, Doncaster, on the night of Sunday, February 24, prosecutor Matthew Burdon told Sheffield Crown Court, on Thursday.

The owner, who is trying to renovate it, returned the next day to find £300 of clothing had been stolen and the damage cost £150 to repair.

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Police discovered found a bloodstain left by Hartley, who was living in a flat on the same road at the time, where the stolen clothing was also recovered.

(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Mr Burdon said sentencing was delayed because of the Covid 19 outbreak, but Hartley failed to attend court in June and was jailed.

The court heard he has 17 previous convictions for 55 offences, including firearms in 2003, and he was sentenced to 32 weeks, in 2017, for theft and driving while disqualified.

Rebecca Tanner, mitigating, urged the judge to pass a suspended sentence as Harley wants to mend his ways.

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"He is not unintelligent," she said. "He has not committed burglaries in the past. He was in particularly difficult circumstances. He was addicted to alcohol and drugs.

"There are gaps in his offending when he was free of drink and drugs and he was working in gainful employment.

"He has been in custody for 57 days and has detoxed," Ms Tanner said. "He has engaged with probation. He has no previous convictions for burglary.

"He wants to bring about change," she said.

Hartley, 48, of Shaftesbury Avenue, Intake, Doncaster, pleaded guilty to burglary, on March 9.

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Judge Michael Slater said Hartley's offending dates back to 1993, but added he was impressed by reports from the probation service and a letter from Hartley, detailing some of the efforts he has made while in prison.

He said Hartley now advises other inmates in a similar situation to him, and has served the equivalent of a four month sentence.

The judge sentenced Hartley to ten months, suspended for two years, with a nine month drug programme and 20 days of rehabilitation.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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