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Burglar raided Carlisle jewellery store hours after carrying out daytime recce
Carlisle Crown Court
A burglar who raided a Carlisle jewellery store in the dead of night just hours after posing as a customer during a daytime recce has been spared immediate prison.
Matthew James Gray, 40, was seen wearing a distinctive crucifix and white trainers while poring over displays during a nine-minute stay at Cathedral Antiques close to the city centre just before lunchtime on July 23 last year.
CCTV captured the premises being targeted at 4am the following morning as Gray returned.
He forced entry with a knife, snatched antique items including rings, brooches and pendants, and caused damage which left the owners facing losses totalling over £15,000.
A BURGLAR snatched thousands of pounds worth of antique jewellery from a shop only hours after posing as a customer during a recce. Desperate to pay off a large drug debt, 40-year-old Matthew James Gray visited Cathedral Antiques in Carlisle on the morning of July 23 last year. During a nine-minute stay, Gray was seen wearing a distinctive crucifix, white trainers and with a large rucksack. “Apparently browsing as a customer,” prosecutor Tim Evans told the city’s crown court, “but conducting a recce, plainly, looking particularly at displays of antique jewellery which would later be targeted.” After staff arrived for work the next morning, they discovered a break-in and checked CCTV.
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