Two career crooks have been jailed after ransacking a charity shop
Christopher Arthur Carter, 42, and Steven Sebastian Teszke, 35, smashed their way into the British Heart Foundation store on Mill Street, Macclesfield, on June 6.
While inside they caused up to £4,000 of damage looking for things to steal, the court heard. They broke into the shop’s safe, stole cash, stamps, jewellery and electrical goods, prosecutors said.
At Macclesfield magistrates’ court on June 7, Teszke, of London Road, Macclesfield, and Carter of Duke Street, Macclesfield, both admitted burglary. Carter also admitted possessing a shotgun cartridge.
At Chester Crown Court on July 7 they were sentenced to 20 months in prison. Carter was given an extra two weeks prison for the firearms offence.
Carter and Teszke, who have 23 and 17 burglary convictions respectively, were described by Judge Roger Dutton as ‘career criminals who think noting of taking other people’s property’.
Sentencing, he said: “You both decided to commit a burglary on a premises you knew was a charity shop which aims to raise money from the public to assist the British Heart Foundation. None of that meant anything to you. All you cared about was that there were valuables inside. You smashed your way in, ransacked the shop and stole property. The public finds offences like this very distasteful. People work long hours in shop like these for little or nothing at all. You just grabbed what you could.”
The court heard that the break-in was discovered by the shop’s manager as she arrived at work at 8am. CCTV cameras showed the men near to the shop at 3.30am, prosecutors said.
By 10.30am police had swooped on Carter’s home where they also found Teszke and the majority of the stolen goods, the court heard.
In police interviews both blamed the other for the lead role in the burglary, prosecutors said.
Myles Wilson, defending both, said: “This was a joint enterprise committed on the spur of the moment while they were drunk.”
Julie Renshaw, Area Manager at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: “The recent break in at our shop has been really disheartening for the whole team. “It has caused a huge amount of damage to the shop, which has cost thousands of pounds to repair, taking money away from the BHF’s vital work. It was also a really upsetting situation for all the staff and volunteers. Slowly but surely our shop is getting back to normal and bouncing back from the event.
“I’d like to thank the Macclesfield community on behalf of everyone at the shop for all their support over the past few weeks. It’s only because of our generous supporters that we are able to continue trading and funding life saving heart research. We are always in need of items to fill our rails so please do keep us in mind in future if you are having a clear out.”
