Thief jailed for restaurant burglary in Breck Road, Poulton after offering off duty policeman stolen goods

A dopey thief who tried to sell stolen alcohol to an off-duty police inspector has been jailed for more than three years.

The officer was approached by Jamie Higginson while he was out shopping in Poulton-le-Fylde and rang colleagues at Fleetwood Police Station to check him out.

The 28-year-old was arrested and appeared before a judge at Preston Crown Court for burglary at a restaurant in Breck Road, Poulton. He was also sentenced for a second burglary in Preston and two offences of shoplifting in the Lake District and Crewe.

He was sent to prison for three years one month after a judge heard the other burglary, at a gaming store in Manchester Road, Preston, had cost the owners a staggering £40,000.

Higginson, of no fixed address, was said to have been a rough sleeper at the time of his "shopping" spree. He admitted the two burglaries, two theft charges, criminal damage and failure to surrender to bail at a previous hearing. The court was told he had carried out the offences to feed his drug habit and to get warm clothes because he was living on the street. His defence lawyer said he had been caught in a vicious cycle of drug-taking and crime.

The Poulton burglary on April 7 last year was the first in his mini crime wave. An upstairs store room was broken into and bottles of champagne, wine and spirits reportedly worth around £5,000 were stolen. The shop had recently closed due to a fire.

Hours later an off-duty police inspector was about to go into the nearby Aldi supermarket when a drunken Higginson approached and asked if he wanted to buy any wine. He said he had around 70 bottles in a car close by. The officer was concerned he might be drinking and driving so contacted police in Fleetwood and continued to watch him and another man approaching people going into the shop and also offering to sell them wine.

Officers arrived and arrested both men. Higginson had half a dozen bottles of wine in a backpack and between 15 and 20 in a large bucket nearby. CCTV later showed he had broken into the restaurant in broad daylight and spent around two hours in the premises. He returned with another man within 20 minutes and left again, this time carrying a large bin full of items.

Mr Clarke said: “There does appear to have been some planning at the very least. He made an initial entry and, finding a treasure trove of goods, got someone to come back and help him.” Around 20 bottles were recovered, but the total loss to the owner could not be verified.

On September 10, while on bail for the restaurant burglary, Higginson and another unidentified man walked into the Climbers’ Shop in Ambleside at around 11am. A member of staff working on the till saw Higginson take an expensive sleeping bag. The woman confronted the two men and was threatened: “If you snitch on us, we’ll come back.”

They joined a group of three others outside. Police were called by a member of the public who said they were seen boarding a bus to Kendal. The bus was stopped and five men matching the description of those in Ambleside were apprehended. Higginson said he had taken the sleeping bag, worth £230, and a camping map because he needed somewhere to sleep. In total up to £1,000 of items had been stolen from the shop but most were never found.

On October 25 Higginson was seen trying to remove a security tag from a pack of boxer short in TK Maxx on the Grand Junction shopping park in Crewe. He was with two other men and the group was monitored by staff in the store. It was alleged all three stole items of clothing from the shop and the security alarm was activated. Stock worth between £500 and £1,000 was found to be missing. When apprehended Higginson was discovered with items including three pairs of boxer shorts, a pair of trousers, a jacket and a pack of socks.

The final and most expensive theft involving Higginson came in February this year in Preston when he targeted Harlequins gaming store in Manchester Road. At around 6:40pm on February 15 he was seen acting suspiciously by the manager who thought he might have stolen from the store previously. He confronted him and asked him to leave.

Higginson became verbally abusive, picked up a chair, raised it above his head as if he was going to strike the manager who took the chair off him. He then took up a fighting stance and as he left he kicked the door causing damage which cost £1,000 to repair.

Four days later the manager got a call from a nearby business saying the store had been broken into during the night. When he went inside he saw broken glass on the floor and could see locked display cabinets had been forced open.

A large collection of Pokémon and other “very high value” gaming cards had been stolen together with other expensive items. CCTV showed Higginson had been in the premises for four hours. A large bin looked to have been used to move the stolen goods.

Judge Paul Hodgkinson asked if the first visit when Higginson had been thrown out had been a “reccy” for the burglary, picking out the locations of the high-value stock? Footage played in court showed him heading straight for the expensive equipment.

Mr Clarke said the burglary had involved significant planning and added there could have been an element of revenge for being ejected from the store four days earlier. The harm caused had been “substantial” for a small independent business.

Higginson’s bail offence came on February 11 when he failed to show up for a Magistrates Court appearance. Mr Clarke said his criminal record contained a number of shoplifting offences and a conviction for robbery for which he served a 31-month prison sentence.

Ellie McManus, defending, said her client accepted he had entered the storeroom above the restaurant in Poulton and had no permission to take the alcohol stock. He had been bailed for that offence and accepted that the other offences were in breach of that bail. He had been electronically tagged but the tag had been “ripped off” by a relative.

Asked by Judge Hodgkinson if he had contacted the tagging service to report it she said: “No. At that time his life was chaotic. He was homeless and on the street and found himself amongst drug users. That is what is behind these offences.”

At the shop in the Lake District he had tried to take the sleeping bag because “he was living on the street and needed something warm to sleep in rather than on the cold wet floor.”

In Crewe Higginson had stolen items from TK Maxx because “he was cold”. She added: “He doesn’t deny he stole. He took the clothing – underwear, socks, trousers and a jacket - to keep himself warm and dry”

And Ms McManus said the burglary and criminal damage at the gaming store in Preston had occurred because he was homeless, surrounded by drug users and under the influence of drugs. He was told by others that if he stole those (gaming) cards he would be given cannabis, vapes and some cocaine.”

She said Higginson suffered from having had a traumatic childhood, being put in car at the age of three. In foster care he had been emotionally and physically abused. As soon as he was old enough he started to live an independent life but ended up living on the streets. His childhood had led him to turn to drugs.

“He is a vulnerable individual, easily influenced by others, He accepts he is easily pressured by his peers and find it difficult to say ‘No’ to people.

“He has expressed his remorse. He wants to make it clear he is sorry and he understands the impact on the businesses and the people involved. He found himself in a vicious circle, homeless, using drugs and having to commit these offences. Driven by addiction he felt there was no alternative.”

Judge Hodgkinson heard the manager of the games store in Preston had been off work with stress for two months following the two incidents.

He told Higginson: “You have an absolutely terrible record for offences of dishonesty and violence.” He accused him of “having the audacity” to try and sell the alcohol he stole from the restaurant storeroom to people in the street just around the corner from the property only minutes after he had committed the burglary. He jailed him for 21 months for that offence.

He said that in Ambleside he had told the staff member he would return, which “seemed to be a threat” to a woman who “was doing an honest day’s work.” He sentenced him to one month in prison. At TK Maxx he said Higginson had played a significant role in the gang of shoplifters and so jailed him for a month in that case too.

In Preston he said Higginson had carried out a reconnaissance visit first “to see what you were going to steal and where they (items) were.” “Youi were challenged by a staff member who told you to ‘get out you’re up to no good.’ He was right. You were up to no good. But you had the audacity to pick up a chair and threaten him with it.

“He was someone who had got out of bed and went to work. He didn’t need people like you making his life difficult and his work difficult when all he is trying to do is earn an honest wage – something you need to consider doing in the future.”

The judge said the loss of so much stock was “a massive amount for a small independent business to cope with”. He jailed him for 16 months for that burglary and 14 days for the criminal damage. For failing to turn up for a previous court hearing he received another month in prison, making a total of three years and one month.

He also imposed restraining orders banning Higginson from entering the gaming store in Preston and the Climbers’ Shop in Ambleside for the next six years.