Leeds burglar back in jail over car chase

Neil Poole was jailed for four years over the burglary at Cross Flatts Grove, Beeston, on January 21 this year.

Leeds Crown Court heard Poole forced a kitchen window to get into the property in the early hours of the morning and cut through CCTV cables in a bid to avoid detection.

He then searched the property and stole £7,000 worth of valuables including a electrical items, sports equipment, children’s toys and games consoles.

Poole took a key to a Vauxhall Corsa parked outside and drove away in it with the stolen items.

Police spotted Poole driving the car later that day in the Belle Isle area.

He refused to stop and a 30 minute pursuit followed in which he mounted pavements and drove at more than double the speed limit.

Poole drove along the grassed central reservation on Belle Isle Road before driving through Middleton and Beeston.

Officers managed to stop the vehicle on Dewsbury Road and detain Poole.

He tested positive for cocaine after being detained but refused to provide a blood sample or breath specimen in custody.

A day before the incident Poole also targeted house on De Lacies Court, Woodlesford.

He used a branch to reach into the property through the cat flap in a bid to reach car keys.

Poole instead managed to hook a glove from a table. He discarded the branch at the scene and it was found to contain his DNA.

Poole, of Hemingway Garth, Hunslet, pleaded guilty to two offences of burglary, aggravated vehicle taking, failing to provide a blood sample, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.

He has previous convictions for burglary dating back to when he was 16 years old, He was out of prison on licence at the time of the offences.

Stephen Smithson, mitigating, said Poole struggled to cope in the community because he had spent so many years in prison.

Jailing Poole, Recorder David Wilby said: “You have I’m afraid, and I can put it no other way, an unenviable record for dwelling house burglaries.”

He added: “This was an appalling piece of driving. You are very fortunate, as are the other road users, that you did not have a very serious accident in which someone was seriously injured.”