Prolific thief jailed after leaving 'pool of blood' at crime scenes in Mansfield

Leigh Paddon has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of burglary, failure to appear in court for three shop thefts, and stealing from a taxi, at Nottingham Crown Court.

Paddon, 36, of no fixed address, was arrested after his blood was found at two crime scenes and forensically examined to match his DNA.

The charges relate to a number of incidents across Mansfield.

In the early hours of July 24 2019 Paddon gained entry to a solicitors on Westgate in the town centre by smashing a first floor window. He stole a safe key and a gift bag, leaving blood at the scene “after a messy search within the building”, police said.

Later that morning he broke the front window of a B&M store and stole alcohol. He was arrested shortly after after being spotted on CCTV, with the items from both incidents recovered.

Paddon was also charged with three shop thefts in February.

The first took place at Poundland at St Peters Retail Park on February 26 where he stole £35 worth of items, including shower gel and shaving foam. Fifteen minutes later he stole more items from Home Bargains. The next day he stole two bottles of perfume from Boots in the Four Seasons Centre by putting them in his pocket and leaving the store.

He was also charged for an incident on March 11 2020 when he broke into the Little John pub in Ravenshead wearing a face mask.

At around 2.30am he gained entry to the kitchen by removing a pane of glass then used an angle grinder to attack the hinges of a safe. He cut himself in the process, leaving blood at the scene, and made off having failed to gain entry to the safe.

Later that morning he broke into a taxi on a Kitchener Drive by smashing a window and stole around £90 in coins. He cut himself again and left blood on the window’s glass fragments.

He was also charged for failing to attend Mansfield Magistrates Court following three shop thefts in the town.

In a victim impact statement, Simon Wilkinson, 46, from Pleasley, who owns the Little John pub, said: “I inspected the kitchen to see such a mess. There was a large pool of blood, so it was obvious that whoever was attempting to break into the safe had injured themselves whilst doing so.

"The whole incident left me on edge. I would find myself constantly checking the CCTV footage on my phone whilst at home as I was paranoid someone will break in again. I also suffered a financial loss due to insurance premiums going up.”

Detective constable Caroline Bailey, who led the investigation, added: “Paddon has caused a lot of people a lot of grief and stress from his actions.

"It's horrific for anyone to have their privacy invaded in this way and to come home to find all their personal belongings have been rifled through and taken.”