Rough sleepers who 'ransacked' Shrewsbury Superdrug in £13,500 burglary given 15 months jail time

Lee Birch and Simon Budd, both 39 and of Castle Foregate, Shrewsbury, and Richard Marshall, 32, of no fixed abode, all admitted one charge of burglary when they appeared before Shrewsbury Crown Court.

The trio, who had all been rough sleeping in Shrewsbury, had taken items from Superdrug on the town's Pride Hill in the early hours of October 22 last year.

The court was told that £13,500 of perfume and aftershave, as well as a Marie Curie Cancer charity box, had been taken after the window to the shop was smashed.

CCTV showed Birch, Budd, and Marshall, all going into the shop and taking items.

The court heard all three were regular drug users at the time of the offence.

Stephan Kolodynski, prosecuting, said that the shop had effectively been ransacked.

Stephen Scully, mitigating for Birch and Budd, said that the pair had not targeted the shop, but had taken the opportunity after "word got around" people who were sleeping rough in the town that the window had been smashed.

He said Budd had been under the influence of drugs at the time, telling officers after being arrested that he was "off his head on diazees".

Budd and Marshall had accepted taking perfume and aftershave, while Birch admitted responsibility for stealing the charity box.

Mr Kolodynski told Judge Peter Barrie: "Although there were three separate entries it is of significance that what was targeted were £13,500 of perfume and aftershave. These items are portable, durable, and easily sold on the black market."

The court heard that when the store manager arrived in the morning she was met with glass strewn across the floor, and a fragrance counter that had been "ransacked" and left "in complete disarray".

Police had arrested the trio in the area of Castle Foregate shortly after viewing CCTV footage.

Mr Scully, and Nicholas Tatlow mitigating for Marshall, said that all three deserved credit for pleading guilty to the offences at the first opportunity.

Sentencing Judge Barrie said: "You each played a part in in the burglary of the Superdrug store on October 22 last year. Entry was gained by smashing a window, there was an untidy attempt to rifle through the perfume and aftershave area of the shop.

"£13,500 of goods were taken and in addition the charity box for Marie Curie.

"There is no reason to believe any of you was a leader or instigator of this offence and you have all three of you been in serious trouble with courts over the years for numerous offences including burglary and dishonesty.

"Mr Birch, you accepted what you stole was the Marie Curie charity box. In terms of value it may be a relatively small part of the value of the whole, but the stealing of that is in effect a double theft. You are stealing from people who made donations to the box and people with cancer who might be helped by the work of the charity. In that effect it has added seriousness."

Judge Barrie added that the overall theft "did involve a significant amount of loss".

All three were sentenced to 15 months in prison – although it will be less time spent on remand, with the trio having been in jail since last October.