A burglar who stole a hospital worker's engagement ring and a thief who took charity boxes were among the criminals jailed in Suffolk this week.
Homeless man stole NHS worker's engagement ring
A man who stole a hospital worker’s engagement ring during a burglary at her Bury St Edmunds home was jailed for 34 months on Thursday.
Sentencing Thomas Pawlak at Ipswich Crown Court, Judge Rupert Overbury said he had burgled the home of a hospital worker in the middle of a pandemic although he accepted he hadn’t deliberately targeted the victim.
Judge Overbury said Pawlak had two previous convictions for house burglaries and was therefore facing a mandatory three-year minimum sentence less credit for his guilty plea.
Pawlak was visiting his mother in breach of a restraining order at her home in St Edmunds Place sheltered housing when he entered a neighbour’s property while she was doing her laundry.
Pawlek stole the woman’s engagement ring and her wallet containing £26 cash, a driving licence and bank cards.
He had then used the bank cards on 11 occasions to obtain goods to the value of £277 and had also unsuccessfully attempted to use the cards on six occasions to obtain goods worth £120.
Pawlak, 34, of no fixed address, admitted breach of a restraining order, burglary and fraud. The offences took place between November 16 and December 2 this year,
Declan Gallagher for Pawlak said his client was homeless at the time of the offences and had long term problems with alcohol.
Man stole eight charity boxes from shops
An unscrupulous criminal with more than 230 previous convictions who stole eight charity boxes during a string of thefts in Ipswich and Woodbridge was jailed for more than two years on Tuesday.
Sentencing 51-year-old Noel Clarke, Judge Emma Peters described the thefts of the collection boxes as “utterly deplorable” and accused him of having “no moral compass.”
Ipswich Crown Court heard that Clarke had mainly targeted Co-op stores and with the help of a woman friend had distracted staff by asking to buy cigarettes before cutting the string attaching the charity boxes to the counter and making off with them hidden under his coat.
Six of the stolen charity boxes were collecting money for the Royal British Legion, one was for St Elizabeth Hospice and the other was for Macmillan Cancer Care.
Judge Peters jailed Clarke for 18 months for the thefts but added on an extra six months to run consecutively after hearing he had tried to steal a further RBL charity box on Armistice Day which she said was “even more deplorable”.
The thefts had taken place during a two-week period between October 26 and November 10 and involved the Old Barrack Road Co-op store in Woodbridge and the following Co-op stores in Ipswich: Ravenswood, Hines Road, Clapgate Lane, Vernon Street, Selkirk Road, Garrick Way, Colchester Road and Laburnum Close.
Clarke, of Bennington Road, Ipswich, pleaded guilty to 12 offences of shoplifting, one offence of attempted theft, making off without paying a taxi fare and breach of a suspended prison sentence.
In addition to being jailed for two years for the thefts and attempted theft, he was sentenced to eight weeks to run consecutively for breaching the suspended sentence.
Cannabis factory found in Suffolk barn
Two men arrested following the discovery of a commercial scale cannabis factory in a Suffolk barn were given jail sentences totalling more than 11 years.
Police officers who went to The Haven in Capel St Mary in February last year noticed a strong smell of cannabis coming from a large barn which was surrounded by CCTV cameras, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
Inside the barn they discovered 281 cannabis plants in two rooms which could have potentially yielded cannabis with a street value of between £50,000 and £150,000, said Hugh Vass, prosecuting.
He described the scale of the cannabis factory as “industrial” and said it was equipped with ducting, light bulbs and a sophisticated hydroponic growing equipment.
At the scene police arrested 44-year-old Hai Van Pham, who had been looking after the plants, and the court heard he had since been jailed for 32 months.
Before the court on Friday were John Falzon, 31, of Mashiters Hill, Romford and Bradley Derosa, 49, of Hook End, Brentwood, who both admitted production of cannabis.
Falzon also admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine, cannabis and diazepam and was jailed for a total of six-and-a-half-years.
Derosa also admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis and was jailed for a total of five years.
His wife Georgina Derosa, 36, of Pykenham Way, Hadleigh, admitted being concerned the supply of cocaine and cannabis and was given a two year prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to do 240 hours unpaid work.
She was also given a 30 day rehabilitation activity requirement.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here