Police dog sniffs out tobacco burglar hiding behind bins
One Stop at 94 Norwich Road New Costessey. Picture: Google Maps - Credit: Google Maps
A police dog sniffed out a burglar who hid behind bins after stealing £9,500-worth of tobacco from a shop.
Vaidas Jakimavicius, 41, and another man had forced their way into the One Stop shop on Norwich Road, Costessey.
Norwich Crown Court heard the pair were caught on CCTV going behind the till and putting cigarettes, tobacco products and e-cigarettes into two large bags before leaving the shop.
John Morgans, prosecuting, said police arrived after the burglars had left the scene although “police dogs were able to pick up the trail”.
Following enquiries officers recovered the cigarettes and one of the suspects in the Dereham Road area.
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Mr Morgans said officers first found the bags of stolen goods before finding Jakimavicius who had been trying to “hide behind some wheelie bins”.
After he was arrested Jakimavicius told officers “I did it for food, I stole to sell them for food”.
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Police also recovered from nearby “tools of the trade” worn by the defendant, including gloves, a balaclava and torch.
The other burglar escaped and has not been caught.
Mr Morgans said the tobacco was worth about £9,500 with the damage done to the shop meaning the total loss was about £10,000.
Jakimavicius, of no fixed address, appeared in court for sentence on Monday, June 1 having previously admitted the burglary, which happened shortly before 2.15am on April 20 this year.
Gavin Cowe, mitigating, said “very real hardship” led to the offence.
The defendant also admitted the offence was wrong and had “expressed significant remorse”.
Mr Cowe added that Jakimavicius had been in a “very desperate situation”.
Jailing Jakimavicius for a total of 14 months, Judge Andrew Shaw said it was a “serious commercial burglary”.
Judge Shaw said Jakimavicius was equipped for burglary.
The judge also said that a significant degree of planning had gone into the raid which resulted in a loss of more than £10,000 to the store.
