Former military man narrowly avoids jail after maiden burglary attempt at Sherburn, near Malton, ends in failure

Peter Garth, a former Scots Guard, broke into Sherburn Community & Sports Club by smashing his way in through a window then making a beeline for the till, the charity tins and the gaming machine.

But the hapless burglar finished up empty-handed despite making three sneak trips to the club in the dead of night, York Crown Court heard.

Garth, who turned up in court wearing military medals, burrowed his way into the sports club through a hole in a window which he had smashed with an axe, said prosecutor Marc Atkins.

“He was seen on CCTV entering the premises via the broken window,” said Mr Atkins.

The bungling burglar, who was wearing a backpack, knocked into the till which caused it to shut and there was no money left on site anyway.

“He then threw two charity tins to the floor and walked…towards a gaming machine,” added Mr Atkins.

“He caused damage to the machine by smashing the glass.”

Despite his best efforts, Garth left the club empty-handed and had to worm his way back through the hole in the shattered window without a bean.

About five hours after the fruitless raid, a trustee and committee member got a phone call saying the club had been raided.

He went to check on the premises, in Vicarage Lane, Sherburn, near Malton, and discovered the damage which would require just under £200 of repairs and an inevitable insurance hike.

He also found a camouflage glove which Garth had left at the scene.

The glove was examined by police forensic officers who found Garth’s DNA on it.

The ex-army man had quite an extensive record which didn’t include burglary but did comprise “lots of thefts”.

The botched raid was the more remarkable for the fact that Garth lived just four minutes’ walk from the sports club at the time and, by his own admission, he had even played football there in the past.

About three weeks after the raid, which occurred at about 4.15am on September 27 last year, police searched a local property and found a “hatch-type” axe in the garden and the backpack Garth was wearing at the time of the burglary.

He was arrested but despite incontrovertible evidence linking him to the crime, he initially denied the burglary, claiming he was “at home, in bed” at the time.

“He confirmed the glove belonged to him, although he couldn’t offer an explanation as to where it was found,” added Mr Atkins.

Mr Atkins said Garth’s first foray to the club was at 2.30am, when CCTV captured him trying to force a window open using an “implement”, but to no avail.

He then returned to the club at 3.50am when he used an axe to smash a window.

But instead of going straight in, he left the premises and returned at about 4.15am when he sneaked in through the broken window.

Garth, now of Bull Lane, York, had 17 previous convictions for 31 offences including shoplifting, dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice - the latter offences attracting a suspended prison sentence in 2019.

Defence barrister Samuel Sharp said Garth was in an “emotionally fragile state” at the time of the burglary due to a serious illness to his long-term partner.

He said Garth had served in the Scots Guards from 1986 to 1990 before being discharged due to “difficulties” he was experiencing.

He had then gone into construction but was currently out of work due to mental-health problems following a “breakdown” in 2017.

Judge Simon Hickey described the raid as a “fairly mean offence”.

He told Garth: “You lived nearby (the sports club) so you must have known the impact it would have on the community.

"Quite why you decided to burgle these premises for the first time in your life is beyond me.”

He said the fact that Garth had gone to the club three times in quick succession suggested he was checking if “the alarm had gone off and if police had attended” before finally breaking into the club at the third time of asking.

He noted the “distress it must have caused to the community” but said that, on balance, it would be better for Garth to be rehabilitated in the community.

Garth received an 11-month suspended prison sentence with an 18-day rehabilitation course.

He was ordered to pay £300 prosecution costs and £198 compensation to the sports club for the damage caused.