Burglar squeezed through the doors of Sports Direct to steal a rack of jackets

A sneak-in burglar who managed to squeeze through the doors of Sports Direct in Wakefield to steal a rack of jackets has been jailed.
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Louis Roebuck was already wanted on suspicion of an attempted house burglary, when he spotted the doors of the Westgate shop slightly ajar on the morning of 10 November last year, minutes before it was due to open.

The 31-year-old alcoholic and drug addict was caught on CCTV stealing the 10 Adidas jackets worth £350, and picked up by police not long after, prosecutor Jade Edwards told Leeds Crown Court.

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Ms Edwards said that Roebuck had also been seen on CCTV five days prior at the rear staircase of the sports shop trying to break, but failed.

Roebuck was given 30 months' jail.Roebuck was given 30 months' jail.
Roebuck was given 30 months' jail.

Roebuck, of no fixed address, admitted a charge of burglary and attempted burglary.

Roebuck was also found guilty after a trial of attempting to break into a house on Garden Street, Castleford, in October while the occupier was asleep upstairs.

He admitted a further charge of attempting to break into a garage, in which his blood was left at the scene.

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The court was told he has 34 previous convictions for 50 offences, including multiple thefts and burglaries.

Mitigating, Steve Swan said that in the last five years, three have been spent by Roebuck serving custodial sentences.

He said: "He has the motivation to change. At 31, he is sick of it.

"He has done every course going while in prison and wants to get out into the work place."

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He said that Roebuck was taking a heroin medication to combat the effects of heroin withdrawal, but said that alcohol was his biggest issue.

Mr Swan said: "It is drink. Once in drink, drugs surface, but primarily it's the drink that causes him to relapse."

Judge Mushtaq Khokhar handed Roebuck 30 months' jail and told him: "Until you rid yourself of your addiction, nothing will change."