Notorious Harrogate criminal jailed for breaking into shed and stealing bike worth £700

Dale Plant, 36, who has 133 previous offences to his name, broke into the man’s shed in his back garden and trundled the bike away as the victim was working inside his home and blissfully unaware of the sneak theft, York Crown Court heard.

It was only when his wife returned home and found the shed door open that it became apparent to him that any mischief had occurred, said prosecutor Mark Atkins.

Plant, a heroin addict, had broken the lock to the shed after trying unsuccessfully to break into a storage container and trying the back door to the house, added Mr Atkins.

The incident was caught on CCTV and two days later the victim’s friend called him to say he had seen a man matching Plant’s description in Spa Lane, Starbeck.

The named victim went out to Spa Lane and recognised Plant.

He contacted police who arrested Plant following a short foot chase.

He was brought in for questioning and admitted the burglary, which occurred on February 15.

Plant, from Harrogate but of no fixed address, appeared for sentence today after pleading guilty to stealing the bike.

The court heard he had 77 previous convictions for 133 offences, many of them for theft and kindred.

He was a “third-strike” burglar, a prolific shoplifter and in February last year received a five-month suspended prison sentence for sexual assault.

Three months later, he received a 12-month community order for shop theft and criminal damage.

His new offence put him in breach of both the suspended sentence and the community order.

Defence barrister Peter Minnikin said Plant’s “less-than-enviable” record was down to a long-standing heroin addiction.

He said that Plant had burgled the couple’s property after receiving threats from a drug dealer to pay his debts.

Judge Simon Hickey said the only option was an immediate prison sentence because Plant was a “third-strike burglar” and had not been complying with the Probation Service.

Plant was jailed for six months for burglary and breaching the suspended sentence.