"Self-pitying, selfish" Scarborough criminal with 171 offences to his name jailed for burglary

Dennis Reynolds, 41, broke into Papa’s Fish and Chips seafront takeaway through a rear fire door after using a tool to wedge it open, York Crown Court heard.

Reynolds and another named man, wearing balaclavas and hoods, stole a safe with around £1,500 inside and made off, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

However, they were captured on CCTV as they made their way down St Sepulchre Street after taking off their hoods and balaclavas, which enabled police to identify them.

Reynolds’ home was searched where officers found the balaclava and some money sealed in banks bags.

He was arrested and charged with burglary and stealing a safe with an estimated £1,500 inside.

He admitted the offence and appeared for sentence on Thursday December 8 after being remanded in custody.

Ms Morrison said the incident occurred at about 11pm on October 20 when the burglar alarm was activated, alerting the estates manager who checked CCTV to find two masked men at the rear fire door of the fish-and-chip restaurant on Foreshore Road.

Ms Morrison said that marks left on the fire door showed that some sort of tool had been used to force it open.

She said it wasn’t clear how much of the stolen money, “if any”, had been recovered.

Reynolds, a prolific thief, had 74 previous convictions for 171 offences dating back to the mid-1990s.

He had 11 previous burglaries to his name, 20 convictions for theft, 16 instances of handling stolen goods, taking vehicles without consent, a robbery, going equipped for theft, sexual offences, stealing from vehicles, battery and public disorder.

In January he was given a community order for harassment. He then breached the order which resulted in a 15-week prison sentence in March.

Defence barrister Rhianydd Clement said that Reynolds, a sometime labourer, had been in and out of the chip shop within about two minutes.

She said that, according to Reynolds, it was a “silly mistake fuelled by alcohol”.

She said that after Reynolds was released from his last prison sentence in the spring, he was hard up for money.

She added that the father-of-one had a binge-drinking problem and had “issues with substance abuse”, namely a 15-year amphetamine habit which he had now kicked.

But judge Sean Morris said that Reynolds’ “shocking” criminal record showed there was “no chance” of rehabilitation in his case.

He pointed to the fact that Reynolds had breached community orders on no fewer than 28 occasions in the past.

He told Reynolds: “I’m afraid I can see no other alternative than an immediate prison sentence and that’s what you (will continue) to get unless you decide to stop committing crime (and) stop being such a self-pitying, selfish man.”

Reynolds received an eight-month jail sentence, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.

His accomplice, who can’t be named at this stage, will be dealt with for the burglary at a later date as he also faces further serious allegations.