Men photographed during burglary in Northallerton are jailed

Two men from Darlington who pleaded guilty to burglary and theft have been sentenced at Teesside Crown Court

Martin Wilson (above) aged 30, was sentenced to 44 months imprisonment for burglary.

Shaun O’Connor (below) aged 34, was sentenced to 28 months for burglary and three months for theft of a bike.

The two men were arrested following a burglary at a property on Hatfield Road, Northallerton on Sunday 11 June 2017.

A quick thinking member of the public took photographs of the offenders, which were then given to North Yorkshire Police.

The photographs were shared with Durham and Cleveland and then men were quickly identified by Durham Police.

O’Connor had stolen a bike off a Virgin train as it arrived in Northallerton prior to the burglary.

The stolen bike was found by a 15 year old boy in the Romanby area of Northallerton on 18 June 2017.

The bike was traced to its owner in Norfolk and it has been returned to him via a member of staff from Virgin Trains.

Photograph  - PC Trevor Herron and Michael Ross, the Virgin Customer Relationship Manager.

The Officer in the Case, Detective Constable Janine Mitchell of the Northallerton Investigation Hub, said:

“I am satisfied with the result from court in relation to these two men. Burglary causes great distress amongst its victims and I am pleased these criminals are behind bars.

“I would also like to again thank the member of the public who acted quickly and took photos of the offender.

It is a fantastic example of communities and cross border forces working together to catch those who chose to target innocent members of our communities”.

Unfortunately we have not yet recovered the items which had been stolen from the property.

Anyone with information that could help us to find these items is asked to contact us on 101, select option 2, and ask for Janine Mitchell.

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