Burglar who '˜plagued' Culmore Road jailed

A man who '˜plagued' the Culmore Road area by breaking into houses and cars has been jailed for three years.
The courthouse at Bishop Street, Derry.The courthouse at Bishop Street, Derry.
The courthouse at Bishop Street, Derry.

Judge Philip Babington said that 22-year-old Vincent Gill caused a ‘great deal of upset and heartache to home owners’ in the area.

Gill, whose address was given on court papers as c/o Maghaberry, pleaded guilty to burglary of a house on the Culmore Road on June 29, last year.

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He also asked for a number of other incidents to be taken into consideration by the court.

Derry Crown Court heard Gill went into a house on the Culmore Road and stole a 42 inch TV. A shed had also been ransacked.

The 22-year-old was connected to the burglary by a fingerprint.

He was arrested and during police interview made no comment.

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However, when the fingerprint evidence was put to him at a later date Gill made full admissions.

He claimed that he was trying to evade police, jumped over a fence and went through an unlocked door into the property.

Gill also made admissions to ten other incidents between February and July 2015.

These were incidents of agravated taking and driving away, burglary, theft and criminal damage.

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One of them involved a domestic burglary when the occupants were present and another involved the theft of two BMW cars.

The court heard that £6,000 worth of damage was caused to these cars.

All these incidents occurred in Ardcaien, Gleneagles, Rockfield, Darleen Park and Fortwilliam Terrace.

It was revealed the 22-year-old has 41 previous convictions, including four for burglary and eight for theft.

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Passing sentence, Judge Babington said the motivation for Gill’s offending behaviour was to ‘obtain cash or items to sell to get money for his drug addiction’.

The judge imposed a determinate sentence of three years, half of which will be spent in custody.