Mansfield burglars stole £11,000 of stock from city centre sex toy shop

Jason Kamal and Ashley Hillsley were wearing gloves and hi-visibility clothing when they broke into the Ann Summers store on Long Row, Nottingham, on August 14, said Declan Austin, prosecuting.

They ripped an alarm panel from the wall and damaged a stockroom door before transferring £11,229 of goods to a vehicle registered to Hillsley that was parked nearby, but the pair were arrested shortly afterwards.

Kamal denied everything when he was interviewed but Hillsley claimed he was bullied into acting as a look-out before admitting “exagerrating the extent of the bullying” in a second interview.

Mr Austin also outlined a further five burglaries committed separately by Kamal between January 2025 and July 2026.

Along with three accomplices he smashed a rear window and removed metal bars to enter the Party Time convenience store on Queen Street, Mansfield, on January 21, 2025.

Once inside he ransacked the shop, helped himself to £200 of cash as well as cigarettes and vapes, and caused a total loss of £2,500. But he was identified via DNA from blood traces left near the till.

He climbed onto the roof of premises on Clumber Street, Nottingham, forced entry through an £800 fire door and ripped out the alarm system, before making off with £3,530 of ipads, on February 13.

Six days later he stole £2,500 in cash and goods after smashing a window with a stone and climbing into the Trepple P cosmetics store on Regent Street, Mansfield. In a statement the owner said she lost the business after recovering nothing from the insurance company.

Kamal was identified through CCTV and DNA and was arrested on March 24. But he was back in business on the night of May 22, when he forced his way into Riley's Snooker and Pool Bar in Nottingham.

He damaged a £130 door frame and smashed a fruit machine to pieces, taking £300 in coins, but again left traces of his blood behind.

On July 28 Kamal broke into a mobile store in Arnold, pried open the safe and stole numerous mobile phones valued at £13,000, but was linked to this crime because he left his vape behind.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Kamal, aged 48, has 36 previous convictions for 61 offences, including 40 for dishonesty and 29 for predominantly non-dwelling burglaries. He was last jailed for 32 months in July 2020.

Hillsley, aged 21, has two previous convictions for two offences and was serving a six-month conditional discharge for battery at the time. The court heard he became aggressive in a dispute over a malfunctioning bus card at Mansfield Bus Station.

Mark Bates, for Kamal, said he deserved credit for his guilty pleas and has only had “sporadic periods of stability in his life.”

“He doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life going back around the same cycle,” he said. “If he comes out without accommodation and has to wait for money it is pretty inevitable what is going to happen.”

Anthony Cheung said Hillsley pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, is remorseful, and has found a new full-time job.

Kamal, of Mappleton Drive, Mansfield, admitted six counts of burglary. Hillsley, of Big Barn Lane, Mansfield, admitted one count.

On Thursday, Judge Julie Dempster told Kamal he survives by committing commericial burglaries but noted his crimes were also the result of chronic homelessness.

She sentenced him to three years in prison. Hillsley received an 18-month community order with a probation requirement and 150 hours of unpaid work.