Shirebrook burglar with 76 previous convictions targeted student houses

David Teevan broke into a shared house on Waverley Street, Nottingham, on July 13, and stole two Sony PlayStation consoles and games, while one of the occupants was at home, Nottingham Crown Court was told.

Rebecca Coleman, prosecuting, said police officers later found Teevan’s fingerprints on a television set.

The next day he broke into a property on Gedling Grove, Nottingham, and took another PlayStation, a laptop, headphones and jewellery.

He left behind fingerprints on a desk in a ground-floor bedroom.

The court heard, that when Teevan was arrested at his home, a blue Nike rucksack and a grey hooded top, taken from the house on Gedling Grove, were found.

On the same day, the court heard, after breaking into a property on Bronte Court, off Waverley Street, he stole a PlayStation console, speakers, and a solid gold signet ring which was a gift from the owner's grandfather.

Teevan was arrested two days’ later and asked for two more burglaries to be taken into account.

On July 12, his blood was found after he burgled a house on Larkdale Street, in Radford, Nottingham.

And sometime between July 14 and 16, he broke into a house on Portland Road, Nottingham, and stole an Amazon projector and an Alexa device.

The court heard he has 30 previous convictions for 76 offences, including being jailed for four years in 2018, for an attempted robbery.

‘Chaos ensues’

Chris Brewin, mitigating, said Teevan lost his accommodation during the pandemic and started drinking.

“He freely admits that chaos ensues when he drinks,” he said. “He knows he is looking at a lengthy prison sentence.”

Teevan, aged 42, formerly of Recreation Drive, Shirebrook, admitted three counts of burglary when he appeared in court.

Sentencing Teevan to 32 months’ jail, Mr Recorder Simon King said: “You're plainly someone who has some devils you have to deal with.

“I hope you will find that there are those within the system who will help you. I don't imagine your life has been easy in recent times.”

Detective Constable Tim Townsend, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “I welcome the custodial sentence imposed by the court which has ensured this prolific thief, who has a long string of burglaries to his name, is now off our streets.

“It was clear he would have continued to commit crime and burglaries at the expense of innocent members of the public had he not been caught and brought to justice.

“I’m pleased officers were able to return stolen property to Teevan’s victims and I hope the positive outcome in this case reassures people how seriously Nottinghamshire Police treats reports of burglary and how hard we always work to bring offenders to justice.”

A force spokesman said officers ‘remain dedicated to stopping burglaries from happening and taking robust action against those who commit them’.

He said: “This all-year-round commitment includes the proactive work of our specialist burglary teams and divisional CID teams which continue to tackle burglary and remain focussed on driving down this crime type.

Burglary has plummeted by more than a third in Nottinghamshire in the last financial year, with this downward trend evident the pandemic, and the force is committed to driving down burglary offences even further.

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