The homeowner posted doorbell footage on Facebook
Burglar Jamie Clarkson(Image: Humberside Police)
A prolific burglar with a long history of crime stole a valuable haul of Botox anti-wrinkle treatments – as well as skin boosters and vitamins – after raiding a summer house used for storing products for an aesthetics business. Serial criminal Jamie Clarkson also stole about £20,000 worth of jewellery from a house and broke into a bar where the owner’s “distressed” sisters and nieces were cowering upstairs.
He also callously broke into a church and stole donated items from a charity shop storage outbuilding, a court heard. Clarkson, 36, of Hull, but recently in custody on remand, admitted five offences of burglary between December 17 and April 21.
Jane Rapin, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that, on December 18, the occupants of a house in Clarendon Street, west Hull, noticed that the door to their summer house was open and the inside had been trashed. They checked the doorbell footage and this showed Clarkson leaving the summer house and trying to open the shed door.
“The camera says: ‘You are being recorded’ and a light came on,” said Miss Rapin. Clarkson left through the front gate.
“The summer house is used for the occupants’ aesthetics business,” said Miss Rapin. Items stored there included skin boosters, vitamins and Botox anti-wrinkle treatments.
The value of the products taken was about £1,000 but this did not include at least £3,000 loss of earnings from the cancellation of Christmas orders. The owner of the business put an image from the doorbell footage on Facebook and she was contacted by a woman who identified Clarkson.
On April 16, a woman returned to her home in Grafton Street, off Newland Avenue, west Hull, and found that a light was on and drawers and cupboards were wide open. “The patio doors were open, with the locks broken,” said Miss Rapin.
The stolen haul, valued at about £20,000, included six gold rings, three children’s rings, two gold chains, two gold bangles, a gold necklace and earrings, a watch and a jacket. CCTV showed that Clarkson went to a shop in Newland Avenue and sold the jewellery.
Also on April 16, staff at Dove House Hospice charity shop in Newland Avenue noticed that a window in a portable cabin had been smashed. CCTV showed that Clarkson used a crowbar to smash the window before climbing in and, 10 minutes later, leaving with a bag.
It was not known what donated items had been taken. Some jewellery boxes had been opened and items taken. The broken window cost about £200 to replace.
On April 20, Clarkson tried door handles at Horners Bar in Anlaby Road, west Hull, before using an empty beer keg to smash a window. He picked up two bottles of spirits but did not take them and left.
The landlord received a telephone call from his sister to say that someone had broken in and was downstairs.
His younger sisters and nieces were upstairs and they were in distress. The landlord arrived and noticed the smashed window.
On April 21, a minister at Potters House Church in Newland Avenue noticed that the main door was damaged. Clarkson was seen on CCTV kicking the door and forcing it open.
He went inside and left with a bag containing a camera and lens, valued at £2,500. Police arrested Clarkson later that day but he initially gave a false name.
Clarkson made no comment to questions during police interview. He had convictions for 43 previous offences dating back to 2007.
These included 24 for theft-related matters between October 2018 and March 2019. His most recent conviction was in February this year for commercial burglary.
Clarkson was a third-strike burglar and he had convictions for domestic burglary in October 2018 and March 2019. Because of these, he realised that he faced a statutory minimum prison sentence, the court heard.
He was jailed for three years and four months.
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