Lincoln ‘one-man crime wave’ jailed for causing mayhem over Christmas

A burglar embarked on a one-man crime wave over Christmas after breaking into a second-hand car dealership and causing mayhem, Lincoln Crown Court heard.

Myles Horton “trashed” the offices of Carzone on North Holme Road, Louth on Christmas Eve and went on to cause hundreds of pounds worth of damage to vehicles.

Esther Harrison, prosecuting, said: “He entered the premises by smashing a window in the accounts office. It was trashed. Drawers and files were pulled out and onto the floor.

“Car keys were taken. A Mercedes was used to ram into a Corsa causing damage to the front of the Mercedes and to the rear and side of the Corsa.

“The Corsa was moved and an Audi was taken. It had a fault with the clutch and it wasn’t taken very far.”

Miss Harrison said that Horton then took a VW Golf car from the site and drove to a nearby garage where he filled up with £40 worth of petrol before setting off without paying. He discovered that vehicle had an electrical fault so took it back to the dealership and took a Seat Leon.

He drove the vehicle to Lincoln and on Christmas Day morning put £46 worth of petrol in at the Burton Road garage. He was arrested later in the day after police stopped the car but he was later released only to be arrested a second time on the evening of Boxing Day after breaking in to a car repair workshop on Monks Road, Lincoln.

Horton, 20, of Vernon Street, Lincoln, admitted three charges of burglary, two charges of taking a vehicle without consent and further charges of aggravated vehicle taking, criminal damage, making off without payment for petrol, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

He asked for two further offences of burglary and making off without payment to be taken into consideration.

He was sent to a young offenders’ institution for two years and banned from driving for three years.

Judge John Pini QC, passing sentence, told him: “Over a period of 48 hours you were a one-man crime wave. A colossal amount of inconvenience was caused.”

Sunil Khanna, in mitigation, said that Horton had a fall-out with his long-term partner on Christmas Eve and managed to get a lift to Louth where he has family.

“He had been living with his partner and had nowhere to stay.

“His head was all over the place. He didn’t know how to deal with it. This wasn’t planned. He simply reacted. He wasn’t thinking.”

Mr Khanna said that Horton has since re-established contact with his partner.