2:53 pm, September 11, 2023
A burglar has been jailed for 18 months after he stole cars from two dealerships as part of a three-month crime spree.
The series of crimes took place in Stoke-on-Trent with a total of five separate burglaries, including those at Stoneacre and Arnold Clark dealerships.
Ashley Pemberton, 30, of Hollings Street, Fenton, pleaded guilty to all charges at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
He was also made the subject of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), preventing him from entering Hanley city centre, Festival Park or Festival Heights for five years.
The court was told that the series of burglaries began with Pemberton breaking into Stoneacre on Cobridge Road, Hanley, where it has Peugeot and Suzuki showrooms.
On February 27 at 10.30pm he broke into the office by smashing a window, stole a vehicle’s keys and drove away in it, according to Stoke Sentinel.
The car was tracked down and the keys were found in Pemberton’s possession. He had blood on him and his blood was also found at the office.
Early on May 1, he approached the Arnold Clark Vauxhall dealership on Clough Street, Hanley.
He used a key to open a Vauxhall Grandland and proceeded to drive it around the site for half an hour.
He was later stopped by police and gave a false name, the prosecutor Thomas Schofield told the court.
Pemberton also broke into Burslem School of Art on March 7, Burslem Enterprise Centre on April 3 and a property on Chapel Lane on May 2.
He pleaded guilty to five charges of burglary, two charges of damaging property, two charges of taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent, two charges of driving without a licence, two charges of driving without insurance and theft.
Mitigating, Paul Cliff told the court that Pemberton was addicted to ‘monkey dust’, spending £100 a day on it in late spring, and that he was homeless.
He also said, according to the Stoke Sentinel, that Pemberton knew his crimes will have an impact on his victims.
Pemberton had 35 previous convictions for 90 offences.
