Raiders ransacked the home of jewellery shop owners in a £50,000 heist. Mandeep Thiara and another man travelled from Yorkshire to target the couple's home in Darras Hall while they were at work in their shop.
The Break-In
The horrified victims returned to find items of huge financial and sentimental value had been stolen and their home had been ransacked and left covered in muddy footprints. Newcastle Crown Court heard it was on February 3 that Thiara and his associate travelled from Bradford in a van fitted with cloned number plates to do a "reccy" at the home of the victims.
The court heard their house has electric gates and a long drive and the couple have lived there for more than three decades. They left for work around 9.30am the following day and were at their jewellery shop until around 6pm, getting home at 7pm.
Discovery and Theft
Having gone in through their garage, they noticed a cupboard door was open, a pan was on a chair and there were muddy footprints all over. The fridge door was open, there was an open can of cola and there was a yoghurt in the sink. In the dining room, they saw a window had been smashed and there were further muddy footprints on the carpet.
Their bedrooms had been ransacked and jewellery, worth around £50,000, and other items, had been stolen. This included a significant amount of gold jewellery, including necklaces, diamond rings, bags, expensive footwear, clothing, perfumes and cash.
CCTV Evidence
CCTV showed two men smashing the window of the house around 5.20pm and going in, leaving seven minutes later and running away. One of them then returned 10 minutes later and went back in for 15 minutes, climbing out of the broken window with two pillow cases containing further stolen items.
He went back in for a third time for five minutes, leaving with further valuables in two pillow cases. He then tried to wipe clean the entry point with a pan of water and pillow cases. The raiders drove away in the van down a bridle path near the house.
Arrest and Impact
When Thiara was later arrested, he was found in possession of some of the stolen property. He had left blood and therefore his DNA at the scene. In a victim impact statement, the man said he felt violated and horrified and said it was upsetting and traumatising for all of his family. He said the thought of someone going through their personal belongings was distressing.
He added that some of the jewellery taken was of sentimental value and had been passed down through the generations. He described items which belonged to his wife's late father as having "priceless sentimental value". The man said despite living there for more than 30 years, his wife no longer feels safe and wants to sell the property, their business and move to another country.
Sentencing
Thiara, who has 21 previous convictions, including for drug dealing and violence, pleaded guilty to burglary and was jailed for three years. Recorder Tony Hawks told him it was an "extremely serious planned offence" and said: "You were part of at least two people who must have had prior knowledge that the complainant family were jewellers and on the day their house was burgled, they would be out at work."
"This was a property which was targeted deliberately. You broke in by smashing the window and ransacked the property, stealing a significant amount of valuable jewellery, some of if of sentimental value. You must have known there would be a lot of jewellery in the property. The effect of a house burglary is always catastrophic for the householders."
Helen Towers, defending, said the burglary was not sophisticated given Thiara had eaten during the raid and left a mess. She added that he has suffered a number of tragedies in his life.
