TWO MEN have been jailed in connection with a spate of burglaries in and around Wokingham, including the raid of Boots in the town centre earlier this year.
Following multiple Thames Valley Police investigations, James Frost, aged 32, of The Oaks, Bracknell, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday, September 13.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of dwelling burglary and one count each of non-dwelling burglary, aggravated taking without consent, dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified and handling stolen goods.
Terry Smitheyman, aged 26, also of The Oaks, Bracknell, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of dwelling burglary and one count of handling stolen goods.
At around 2am on Wednesday, June 9, last year, police say Frost and Smitheyman stole an Apple Mac laptop from a property on Bracknell Road, Warfield.
At around 3.25am the same day, Frost and Smitheyman burgled a property in Hogoak Lane, Warfield.
According to police, they stole a gold ring, two watches, a Zippo lighter, an iPad, a debit card and around a large quantity of cash from a downstairs bedroom.
They also took the keys to a Toyota Hilux hire car and the vehicle itself from the driveway.
Police say there was extensive damage to the electric gates, as if they had been rammed when the car was stolen.
Directly outside of the gates on the roadside were two discarded mountain bikes and a pair of disposable rubber latex gloves.
The two bikes had been taken from a nearby property in Bishops Lane, where their electric gates had also been damaged.
A tracker on the Toyota showed it had been stopped at around 3.40am on the Britwell estate in Slough, where officers found it later that morning.
Officers forensically linked Frost and Smitheyman to the offences during their investigation.
They were arrested on Friday , June 11, last year and charged on Sunday, June 13.
Between 3am and 4.40am on Friday, January 14, this year, while on bail for the offences in June last year, police say Frost burgled a property in Beehive Lane, Binfield.
He entered through the kitchen window and ransacked the property, ripping off cupboard doors, stealing a garden strimmer.
From there, Frost walked to Milward Gardens and stole a Land Rover Discovery, which was parked on the drive of a property.
According to police, at around 6am he reversed the stolen Land Rover Discovery into the storefront of Boots in Market Place.
Once inside, Frost smashed a glass door to the fragrance cabinet and stole a quantity of high value men’s fragrance.
He then made off in the car, which was abandoned in Emmbrook Lane, Wokingham, shortly afterwards.
Officers found numerous boxes of fragrance inside the Land Rover as well as the garden strimmer stolen from the Beehive Lane property.
Officers forensically linked Frost to the burglaries as his DNA was found on the car jack that was in the front of the recovered vehicle.
Frost was arrested for these additional offences on Thursday, May 5, and charged the following day.
Detective constable Kelly Turner, based at Loddon Valley police station, said: “Thames Valley Police is committed to bringing burglars to justice, which is important as burglary is an incredibly invasive crime.
“James Frost and Terry Smitheyman went on a spree of offending on 9 June last year.
“They stole a car, two bikes, numerous personal items and a large amount of cash and damaged two pairs of electric gates, all of which had a substantial impact on the victims.
“Then around seven months later while on bail, Frost broke into another property and ransacked it before stealing a Land Rover.
“He then used the car to smash his way into Boots in Wokingham town centre and steal several high-value fragrances before driving off.
“Their offences have caused concern in the community and a lot of damage to the properties and businesses.
“I am pleased by Frost and Smitheyman’s sentences, which should serve as lessons to others who seek to commit burglaries that we will investigate and put offenders before the courts.”
