James Dean, 45, was discovered hiding in a bush with socks on his hands after breaking into St Peter's Catholic Primary School in Noctorum, Wirral, causing nearly £10,000 of damage. He told police he 'didn't give a f***' when informed he had stolen from pupils and called teachers 'grasses'.
Court hearing details
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Wednesday that Merseyside Police were called to the school just before midnight on May 24 after a teacher living opposite was alerted by security alarms. Officers found Dean concealed beneath a hedge in a nearby garden, wearing socks on his hands. He had the school's CCTV hard drive and two cash boxes beside him, with £652.16 in cash retrieved. He confessed: 'I'm nicked. I done it.'
Dean, of Stanley Road in Birkenhead, said he had 'drank a few cans of beer' and offered to admit to a further six burglaries if his sentence was limited to 12 months. Under interview, he said he 'didn't know why he did it, but it was most likely for money'.
Damage and previous offences
The school's main entrance had to be replaced at a cost exceeding £7,000 after Dean kicked it with such violence that the frame was knocked loose. He also inflicted £1,500 damage to internal fire doors, and the CCTV system required approximately £1,000 to replace. This followed an earlier crime spree on April 5, when he targeted Sylvan Home Care Services, Gossip Coffee and Wine Bar, and Voltage bar on Allport Lane in Bromborough, causing over £4,000 in damage.
Dean has 59 previous convictions for 127 offences, including more than a dozen burglaries. He received a three-year sentence for breaking into a pub in 2019 and four years for robbery in 2022.
Defence and sentencing
Chris Macmaster, defending, said Dean has active diagnoses of depression, anxiety and ADHD, with a history of psychotic symptoms including auditory hallucinations. He said Dean has become institutionalised after spending much of his adult life in custody and struggles upon release. Dean admitted guilt to one count of burglary and requested three further burglary offences be considered. He was imprisoned for two years and eight months.
Judge Katherine Pierpoint said: 'Police attended very quickly and promptly attended the scene. They discovered, in that school, a great deal of damage. Somebody, and it later transpired that it was you, had damaged the double doors and kicked them so hard they had actually come off their frames. The total damage was nearly £10,000 of damage of a public building. You got into the office area, where you had taken two money boxes and also damaged the CCTV system and taken the hard drive with you.'
She added: 'You made good your escape and hid in someone's garden, under a bush. You had socks on your hands, which shows some degree of planning because you did not want your fingerprints to be found. You were issuing threats to people who were nearby.'
