A 38-year-old-man was given a 16-month sentence at Maidstone Crown Court, after taking part in a ‘smash and grab’ burglary from a jewellers in Sevenoaks in the early hours of Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
Alan Speed, of Parsloes Avenue in Dagenham, was one of two men spotted fleeing the scene of the burglary on bicycles, the court heard yesterday.
The pair concealed their faces and used a sledgehammer and kicks to make a hole in the window of Francis Jones, High Street, before grabbing both gold and silver jewellery.
Sentencing, Judge Julian Smith said that Speed’s part in the burglary ‘could be described as professional’ and that the impact on the business was not ‘trivial’.
‘One last chance’
The second defendant in the trial, Sean Moir, of Thames Road, Barking was given a sentence of 10 months, suspended for two years.
Judge Julian Smith referred to Moir, 31, as a ‘willing participant’ in the burglary and described his claim that it was a spur of the moment crime as ‘utter nonsense’.
But he said he was willing to give the 31-year-old ‘one last chance’ with the suspended sentence. Under the sentence, Moir will have to do 200 hours of unpaid work and attend 30 rehabilitation programme sessions.
‘Drink it away or throw it away, that’s your choice,’ the judge said.