COURT: Burglar who snacked during Ripon primary school raid betrayed by arctic roll

Steven Bainbridge, 27,climbed on to the roof and smashed his way through a skylight window before kicking through a glass panel in an interior door to break into the kitchen and then the IT suite at Greystone Primary School, where he stole two computers worth just over £1,000, York Crown Court heard.

Not content with his lucrative computer haul, Bainbridge then stole an Arctic Roll from the kitchen freezer. He also left the freezer door open, which destroyed the food inside.

Prosecuting barrister Andrew Semple said Bainbridge was arrested after DNA evidence left on a kitchen bin was matched to him. He was hauled in for police questioning but made no comment.

However, he admitted the burglary in August last year - around the same time he was given an eight-week prison sentence for assault. He has been remanded in custody ever since.

Mr Semple said at the time of the burglary, Bainbridge, of King Edward Road, Ripon, was on bail for a previous allegation of burglary in June last year - although the charge was later dropped due to lack of evidence.

He added that Bainbridge had 44 previous convictions for a huge number of offences - including theft, burglary, vehicle interference and breaching court orders - dating back to when he was a youth.

Defence barrister David Bradshaw said Bainbridge was out of work at the time of the school burglary in Quarry Moor Lane, and wanted money for alcohol.

Judge Jacqueline Davies told Bainbridge: “The consequence for the school was that, in these straitened times, they lost two expensive pieces of equipment. You have an extraordinarily-long record and you were on bail at the time for all manner of offences.”

Bainbridge was jailed for 12 months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge.