By Ashley Young-
Three young men have each been jailed for 18 months for their roles in a series of house burglaries across Yorkshire in which high value cars were targeted.
Deyonte Frazer, 22, Jamie Cowens, 24, and Creddy Taylor, 21, broke into homes to steal the expensive vehicles parked outside, Bradford Crown Court heard today.
Prosecutor Lydia Carroll said the case involved four house burglaries more than two years ago.
The men were jailed for burgling homes at Waddington Drive, Snaith, East Yorkshire, and Pollard Way, Gomersal, were burgled overnight and a VW Estate and BMW Sport taken.
Frazer pleaded guilty to the offences at Snaith, Gomersal and Batley.
Cowens, whose address was HMP Leeds, and Taylor, of Blue Hill Crescent, Wortley, Leeds, admitted the two break-ins on January 1.
Miss Carroll said the householder was asleep when his home in Snaith was burgled in the middle of the night. His stolen vehicle was then used in further burglaries.
Two hours later, the address in Gomersal was targeted and the four suspects were seen arriving to take the keys and drive off in the BMW.
The court heard that the lost car meant that the victim was unable to take his son out for a planned birthday celebration.
The male householder finding two intruders in his property in the early hours.
The four offenders attended at the address and the patio doors were smashed to gain entry and steal the Audi keys. Miss Carroll said one of the burglars was seen to have a screw-driver.
The householder’s phone alarm alerted him to possible trouble at his home. When his father arrived to investigate he was threatened by one of the burglars who said he had a knife.
At 11pm that night the stolen white Golf Estate used in the burglaries was pursued by the police helicopter and patrol cars. The Golf was abandoned and six occupants got out including the three defendants.
They were arrested and made no comment when questioned.
The court heard that all three had served previous custodial sentences and were still behind bars. In Cowens’ case, he was technically a ‘third strike’ housebreaker.
His barrister, Jayne Beckett, said it would be unjust to apply the three-year minimum term in his case.
He was still serving a five-year custodial sentence for previous house burglaries and han-dling stolen goods and wouldn’t be released until January next year.
Cowens had a promising career as a footballer but went off the rails after suffering trauma at home. He lost contact with his family and friends and began committing of-fences.
He was now a completely different person, completing courses in prison and keen to move on with his life, Mrs Beckett said.
Alastair Campbell, for Frazer, said he was locked up for three years and ten months in 2019 for offences including house burglary. While on licence he was recalled to custody meaning he wouldn’t start any new sentence until now.
He had been serving his sentence in Wales meaning his family had been unable to visit him. He was in his cell during lockdown for all but ten minutes every day. Despite the difficult conditions in prison, he had earned qualifications and was now a changed per-son.
Jessica Heggie, for Taylor, said the defendant too had been recalled to custody and the new charges should have been brought very much sooner.
He was only 18 at the time and the youngest of the three defendants.
Taylor had suffered a family tragedy while in custody. He was determined to turn his life around and keen to be with his family and to find work.
Recorder Ben Nolan KC jailed all three men for 18 months.
He said they had ‘considerable criminal convictions for men so young.’ The burglaries were all ‘high end’ offences, some while the householders were at home. Ordinarily, they would attract prison sentences of up to three and a half years. The men had all served significant sentences in the past and these offences were committed more than two years ago, adding that the delay in charging them had led to ‘injustices,’causing them to spend much longer behind bars than would otherwise have been the case.