Prison for Mansfield man who burgled Worksop charity shop and stole thousands of pounds of donated goods
A Mansfield man who ransacked a Worksop charity shop with two accomplices to steal thousands of pounds of donated electrical goods has been locked up, a court heard.
Carl Pritchard’s co-defendants gained access to the British Heart Foundation shop on Bridge Place after a sales assistant left her keys in the roller shutter when locking up on January 24 last year.
Abigail Hill, prosecuting, said Pritchard joined them at 1.21am for a second burglary in which a number of electrical items were stolen.
The following morning staff found the shop and warehouse had been untidily searched with items strewn everywhere and drawers emptied.
A 42-inch television was ripped from the wall and household electrical goods taken from a glass cabinet that was prised open.
A BHF charity box that had been chained to the counter was also taken along with two £1,000 smart tablets and headphones.
Pritchard was identified from CCTV footage and denied any involvement.
In a statement, the sales assistant said she was “deeply affected” by her "grave oversight" and felt so guilty about what happened she had to take time off work and staff morale was affected.
She said the shop was “a beacon of hope to the town and left the chairty feeling it had been ravaged by a ruthless act.” It had to be closed for an entire Saturday so the "chaotic mess" left behind could be cleaned up.
The court heard Pritchard has 11 previous convictions for 20 offences including six for theft. He received a two-year community order for three shop thefts last year.
Lauren Manuel, mitigating, said Pritchard was remorseful and didn’t realise it was a charity store after relapsing into crack cocaine abuse.
"He was effectively homeless," she said. "He attended his co-defendant's address which was a drugs den and he was asked to help move property from the store in return for drugs.”
She described his co-defendants, who have been sentenced separately, as “prolific burglars” but said when Pritchard is clean of drugs he can remain offence-free.
Pritchard, 32, formerly of Mount Street, Mansfield, and now of Shrewsbury Road, Worksop, admitted non-dwelling burglary before a trial at Nottingham Crown Court.
On Thursday Judge Nirmal Shant KC said his "disgraceful" behaviour was in stark contrast to that of the people who donate to the shop and sentenced him to ten months.