Burglar back behind bars for spate of sneak offences in Stanley

James Richard Ball took mobile phones and car keys from addresses in the Shield Row area of Stanley, either side of midnight on October 4 into 5, last year.

Durham Court Court heard that the car keys taken from one home were used to drive off in a Volvo car parked outside one of the properties targeted, in Northumbria Place.

Shaun Dryden, prosecuting, said the owner of the Volvo left the keys on the table beside the front door at her boyfriend’s home and realised they were missing the following morning.

She had left her bank card in the car and at 2.30am on October 5 an attempt was made to make an online transaction using it, which was declined.

But it was successfully used to buy goods worth a little more than £36 at a Tesco store in Leeds later that morning.

Mr Dryden said that when cctv was examined a man seen leaving the store was identified as the defendant.

A further attempt was made to use the card to buy £43-worth of goods at a Lidl store, also in Leeds, at 8.05am.

Mr Dryden said earlier, at 12.45am, while a householder in Wylam Road, Stanley, was playing on a Play Station with her son, the back door, which was unlocked at the time, opened and a male walked in claiming he thought it was, “Ritchie's house”.

He left, but her son soon discovered a set of car keys had been taken.

Mr Dryden said in a further incident a man in his living room in another house in Wylam Road heard his front door close.

He looked through his kitchen window and saw a male crouching on the front step, before walking away when challenged.

It was discovered that a green parka-type anorak coat had been taken from the house.

Mr Dryden said the stolen car came to police attention at 9pm that night when it was stopped at junction 63 of the A1, while travelling northbound.

The stolen coat was found in the car and Ball, who was the passenger, was arrested and made no comment to police questioning.

Ball, 36, of King Edward Street, Gateshead, admitted three burglaries, one count of theft of the car, plus fraudulent use of the stolen bank card.

The court heard the defendant has 43 past convictions for 83 offences, several of them for burglary.

Mr Dryden said Ball received a 40-month prison sentence in May 2020 for his last domestic burglary, plus 16-months for a burglary of a holiday let cottage, that was not considered to be a permanent dwelling, in April 2022.

Shaun Routledge, for Ball, said he made his admissions at a court hearing four days prior to Christmas and has been remanded in custody since, awaiting sentence.

Mr Routledge said the defendant was on post-prison release supervision at the time he committed the spree of burglaries.

He said that upon release from prison for that last burglary offence the defendant was “instantly homeless”, having been disowned by his family and left to “sofa surf", when he fell back into his old drug habit.

Mr Routledge said Ball is now on a methadone prescription while on remand at Durham Prison and is remorseful for his actions, while, “keen to get on top of the drug habit that has afflicted him for a number of years.”

He said the defendant hopes his application will be granted to be transferred to the, “therapeutic community” at Holme House Prison, Stockton, to enable him to continue to overcome his drug addiction.

Mr Routledge added that the defendant’s aim is to be “completely free of the craving” upon his release from prison.

Judge Jo Kidd described Ball as, “a professional burglar”, who had only been released from prison for six weeks when he committed the spate of offences in early October.

“Looking at your antecedent history, you have been receiving significant sentences, largely without a break, driven by your embedded drug habit.

“You need to spend time resolving that to break that theme of the ‘revolving door’.”

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Imposing a 45-month prison sentence, the judge told him he would serve half behind bars before his release on licence.

But the judge warned Ball if he commits further burglaries upon his release he would only end up spending more time behind bars.

Following the case, Detective Inspector Mal Ord, of Stanley CID, thanked the residents of Northumbria Place and Wylam Road, some of whom provided the police with cctv footage, for their assistance in the inquiry.