A DRUNKEN burglar broke a shop window and dragged out a child's quad bike worth almost £900, a court heard yesterday.
Rory Nelson, 19, of Jura Drive, Darlington, was given a 12-month conditional discharge after admitting the offence at South Durham Magistrates' Court.
Derek Walton, prosecuting, said Nelson and his accomplice, Daniel Nevison, were seen by neighbours throwing stones at DT Mackenzie, in Haughton Road, at about midnight on July 1.
"Eventually a small hole was put in the shop window," he said.
"The males were seen to reach through and pull a child's quad bike towards the glass. This was done until the whole of the pane shattered.
"The police had been alerted and attended very quickly. The defendant was arrested nearby and the quad bike was recovered with slight damage to it."
He said Nevison had been convicted of burgling the shop at court last week.
Peter Furness, for Nelson, said: "He'd had so much to drink on the night in question that he remembers very little about it."
Nelson, a shopfitter, was ordered to pay £294.51 compensation plus £100 costs. The amounts were consolidated with existing court fines of £178.75.
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