A burglar who stole a Smart car and three months worth of alcohol supplies from a Barton-Le-Clay restaurant and takeaway was on Friday, April 8, given a suspended sentence.
Daniel Taylor, 30, from Stanford near Biggleswade, broke into the Passage to India in Bedford Road by smashing a rear window with a brick over night on January 4 and 5, 2022.
He stole £300 cash, bottles of alcohol worth £2,400, two phones and a Smart car used by the business to make deliveries.
Prosecutor Kiran Pourawal said the car was later recovered and Taylor’s fingerprints were found on the glass and on a lighter.
In a victim impact statement the owner of the business said they had worked hard to build up the business. They had to have locks changed, and a window boarded up.
The total loss was over £15,000.
Taylor of The Crescent, Stanford, appeared for sentence having pleaded guilty before the magistrates court.
He had 23 convictions for 49 offences.
Defending, Chantelle Stocks said he had spent a month on remand in Bedford prison.
She said he had been given a drug rehabilitation sentence for another commercial burglar in January and asked for the order to continue.
She said Taylor had a deeply entrenched cycle of drug use and offending but had not reoffending since that order.
She said he was working at the Green Man pub in Stanford and his employers said they would keep the job open for him.
Judge Lynn Tayton QC said he was passing a 12 month jail sentence suspended for two years with “some hesistation.”
She said he must complete 100 hours’ unpaid work, 30 rehabilitation days and 12 months drug rehabilitation.
He must pay £425 court costs in six months. She warned him: “If you come back you can expect to serve that sentence.
“You have got a chance to sort yourself out. Get your act together.”
Speaking over a video link from Bedford prison, Taylor replied, “Thank you, thank you very much.”
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