A burglar who stole a laptop belonging to a teenage cancer victim has been sentenced.
Caleb William Warren, 32 and of Solly Close, Poole, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court today, Friday 4 May 2018, after pleading guilty to burglary.
He was made the subject of a two-year community order, told to complete a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and ordered to pay £440 compensation. Warren was told that if he breaches his community order or commits further offences, he would likely face a prison term.
Sometime between 10.45am and 1pm on Thursday 23 November 2017 a burglary occurred at an address in Leybourne Avenue in Bournemouth. A white xBox One, Apple MacBook Air, iPad, Pandora earrings and a quantity of cash were stolen.
At the time of the burglary the victim – Natalie Elbrow – was at Julia’s House in Poole where she had been visiting her late daughter’s body. Daisy, 15, had tragically died in Poole Hospital four days earlier – Sunday 19 November – following a bravely-fought battle with a rare cancer known as renal cell carcinoma.
The laptop had been bought thanks to funds raised by the stroke unit at Poole Hospital and was Daisy’s portal to the outside world while she was fighting the disease.
On Friday 24 November 2017 a witness appeal was issued by Dorset Police appealing for information about the burglary.
Three days later, Monday 27 November 2017, Dorset Police received information that a man and woman had visited a takeaway in Wimborne Road in Bournemouth in an attempted to sell an iPad and MacBook. Staff were aware of the witness appeal and were suspicious so they videoed and took pictures of the people selling it before contacting police. The items were seized and confirmed as those stolen from the address.
The man was identified as Warren and the woman as Natasha Jayne Stark, 36 and of Monks Way,
and a warrant was carried out at Stark’s home address. Pandora jewellery stolen from the victim was located.
Warren and Stark were both arrested.
On Friday 9 March 2018 Stark appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court for an offence of handling stolen goods. She also admitted a count of shoplifting and asked for a further charge of shoplifting to be taken into account.
She was handed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to complete 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days with the probation service and to undertake 150 hours of unpaid work.
Detective Constable Ben Swain, of Dorset Police’s Priority Crime Team, said: “Burglary offences have a significant impact on victims. This particular crime happened at an extremely traumatic time for the victim who was grieving the loss of her teenage daughter. The laptop that was stolen was of huge sentimental value and meant so much to Daisy and her family. We are grateful to the members of public for their assistance in helping us to return it to them.
“Dorset Police takes burglary crime extremely seriously and we will use all investigative means to catch those responsible and bring them before the court.
“Our thoughts remain with Daisy’s friends and family.”
