A drug-addicted burglar with a huge list of more than 100 previous offences shamelessly tried to disguise his identity during a Valentine’s Day raid on a takeaway shop – by wearing a pair of floppy underpants over his face.
But what he thought was a clever and cunning plan to fool the police –by wearing the ill-fitting dark boxer shorts as a makeshift mask – badly backfired when an eagle-eyed police officer recognised him anyway from CCTV pictures. He was even wearing some shoes that had been given to him by the police just hours earlier, Hull Crown Court heard.
Daniel Shaun Kelly, 43, of Ilkeston Avenue, Goole, admitted two offences of burglary and breaching a one-year suspended prison sentence imposed on December 15, 2023.
Harry Bradford, prosecuting, said that, at 8.25am on February 14, the boss of a takeaway business in Goole arrived at his shop. He walked through the public seating area towards the food preparation area when he noticed that cabling from his CCTV equipment was on the floor.
He checked the till and and realised that the counter had been emptied of about £100 to £200 of coins and that a box containing £35 in change was also missing. All the doors in the cooking area had been opened, CCTV equipment was on the floor and a box of tools had been opened, with items removed from inside.
A window at the rear of the premises had been smashed to get inside.
Police went to the takeaway and a constable looked at CCTV pictures. He identified Kelly and saw that he was wearing shoes that had been provided to him at Clough Road police station custody suite, Hull, where he had been released on bail three hours earlier.
“During the incident, the defendant wore a pair of underpants on his head to cover partially his face and he was holding a claw hammer,” said Mr Bradford.
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The takeaway boss later said: “This burglary has impacted my business as I have between £100 and £200 from the till and further money from the spare money box. This has caused me further inconvenience as I have to restock the till with change.”
During the evening of February 16 and 17, Kelly smashed the window of a portable cabin belonging to a charity in Pavilion West Park, Goole. He broke in through the broken window. While inside the portable cabin, he knocked over computers and caused a “massive mess” but nothing of value was taken. The estimated value of the damage to the window was £400.
Police later found a glove outside the premises and a blood smear on a fridge. More blood was discovered on a yellow box file under a desk and Kelly’s DNA was found on it.
The chief executive of the charity later said: “This incident has made me feel very frustrated and angry because there are going to be additional costs for the charity. As a charity, we are a non-profit organisation and this will greatly impact our work for the future.”
Kelly was arrested on February 28. During police interview, he denied the offences and, when he was shown CCTV from the takeaway, he identified another man as the perpetrator.
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Kelly had convictions for 101 previous offences, including 73 theft-related. He had 31 previous offences of burglary and attempted burglary. He had been jailed most recently for six months for a non-domestic burglary. He had been given a one-year suspended prison sentence on December 15, 2023 for possessing a blade.
Billy Torbett, mitigating, said that Kelly had a big drugs debt at the time and this was why he committed the burglary offences.
He had recently been “turning a corner” and he had managed to stop taking drugs. He pleaded guilty on the day of a scheduled trial.
Kelly, who was already in custody on remand, was jailed for 15 months.