A 21-year-old man and a 42-year-old man from Mildenhall have been jailed after admitting three burglaries in the town.

 

The incidents took place between 4am and 7am on Sunday 23 September.

 

The first burglary took place at around 4am in Melbourne Drive, where entry was gained to a house via an insecure garage door and the offender was disturbed by the occupants, before making off with a garden strimmer.

 

The other two incidents both occurred in Miles Hawk Way, one at 4.30am where a wallet was stolen, and the other at 7am. During the latter of these burglaries, two men were disturbed by the victim in their garage and they then ran off with some power tools.

 

The victim gave chase and caught up with one of the suspects and managed to take back some of their belongings.

Jason Parkinson, aged 21, of Bunbury Avenue, and Andre McCall, aged 42 of Campbell Close Mildenhall were arrested a short time later and subsequently charged with three burglary offences.

 

Between his arrest and his sentencing, Parkinson chose to work with officers from Suffolk Police’s Operation Converter team and went on to admit three further burglary offences, two thefts from vehicles and the theft of a pedal cycle. The offences all took place between August and September 2018.

 

Parkinson was due to appear before Ipswich Crown Court on 10 December for sentencing but failed to appear and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Parkinson handed himself into police the following day and was remanded to court. He appeared before Ipswich Crown Court on 16 January 2019 and was sentenced to two years imprisonment. McCall also appeared before Ipswich Crown Court on the same day and was sentenced to 45 months imprisonment.

 

DC Duncan Etchells said, “House burglary is an intrusive crime that can have devastating effects on the victims. We are determined to continue to bring those who are responsible for this type of crime to justice. The message to burglars is simple; if we have information that you are burgling people’s homes, we will use all powers and tactics available to us to arrest you and ensure the Courts deal with you appropriately.

 

“Operation Converter is an initiative aimed at encouraging offenders to admit their crimes. This has benefits for all – police are able to give victims some peace of mind that an offender has been caught for the burglary of their home or the theft of their property and the individual has the opportunity to clear their slate so they can have a fresh start when they are released from prison, without the possibility they will later be traced for a further offence. Offenders have to give sufficient detail for officers to be sure they have committed the crime and these offences are then ‘taken into consideration’ at sentencing. I am pleased to see that the courts have taken into account Jason Parkinson’s efforts to work with police regarding these offences before determining his sentence.”