Home burglary led to cancer patients having surgery scrapped

Paul Edward Pinner, who was one of the culprits, was in court for three separate Poole break-ins.

They all involved properties being accessed by smashing glass windows with stones from a catapult.

Pinner, who had 54 previous convictions for 110 offences, was jailed for five years by Judge William Mousley KC after he pleaded guilty to committing eight thefts, three burglaries and four fraud offences in the space of four months.

Paul Pinner was jailed at Bournemouth Crown Court (Image: Dorset Police)

Bournemouth Crown Court heard one of the burglaries involved the new home of a doctor in Woodstock Road, Whitecliff.

She returned home on the evening of January 17 to discover her property had been broken into. Various items were taken, including an engagement ring worth £12,600 and a wedding ring.

A statement from the doctor said the incident had a "huge impact", she was "scared to be in the house at all" and she suffered sleepless nights.

The court heard the victim had to take time off work, which led to surgeries for cancer patients having to be cancelled at short notice.

"I will never forget this incident," her statement said.

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All but one of the eight thefts Pinner committed followed a trend of the him stealing purses or handbags in pubs and retail premises. In several cases he went on to use bank cards he had acquired in the same venue where the theft took place, including Poole's The Cockleshell, Custom House, Antelope and The Quay pubs.

Prosecuting, Alec Williams told Bournemouth Crown Court the 58-year-old defendant, of Anchor Street, London, was involved in burglaries of addresses in Poole, between December 22, 2021, and January 17.

"The common thread that has been identified in the course of the investigation is the breaking of glass by the firing of a stone from a catapult," Mr Williams said.

A burglary in Porter Road, Creekmoor, involved an untidy search of the property with the homeowner discovering muddy footprints and a smashed window in the patio doors.

A collection of coins and items of sentimental value were taken during the incident on December 22, 2021.

A statement from the victim said: "To be burgled at Christmas time was especially brutal."

It added: "Most of what was taken had no real value to anyone else."

The next burglary in time in Northbrook Road, Broadstone, on January 13 saw the victim's CCTV camera being activated. Watching a feed on his phone, the resident, who was at work, saw two men approaching the rear of the house before the camera was turned to point away from the property.

By the time he got home the burglary had been completed, with several watches, £200 and a watch box worth £400 missing.

Pinner's theft and fraud spree took place in Poole and Bournemouth between October 6, 2021, and November 19, 2021.

Edward Warren, mitigating, said the defendant had told him "in blunt terms" that "I am a thief but I am not a burglar".

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Mr Warren said his client had a history of drug addiction, which was the motive behind his offending.

The barrister said while the defendant accepted being present in the properties for the burglaries, he said: "I was asked to keep lookout. I am not a burglar.

"I went into the address to keep watch.

"I was there, I assisted in breaking into the property."

Mr Warren said Pinner's criminal record was "appalling" and "he knows that".

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