Families 'text what they wanted stolen' to Spilsby jewellery shop thieves

The men, Jack Shaw and Lee Archer, both from Rotherham, and Ben Archer from Mexborough, all admitted burglary and theft at Spilsby Jewellers in High Street when they appeared at Boston Magistrates Court.

Prosecuting, Dale Brownless said the burglary had been planned, if poorly executed, as they had travelled from South Yorkshire into Lincolnshire with one purpose.

He said a member of the public saw them in a 'battered Ford Fiesta' parked near the jewellery shop and contacted the police, who were able to identify the car as belonging to Shaw.

He said the three entered the shop by breaking in through a side window in an alley and removing metal bars and stealing jewellery and cash, some of which had been 'ordered' apparently by members of their families with whom they had conversed by text.

Mr Brownless said the three men were arrested in the car by South Yorkshire Police three hours after the burglary, with the stolen goods still in the car.

He said Shaw had no previous convictions but Ben Archer had been made the subject of a suspended prison sentence for burglary in 2018 but this had now expired, and Lee Archer had 19 previous offences, the last in 2018.

Mitigating, Beris Brickles said it did not appear to be a professionally planned, sophisticated burglary as there were no tools found in the car and the window and bars appeared to have been just pushed out.

He said the three men had been out driving and, as they had no money, decided to burgle the shop, initially to get cash.

“They took what they could see,” he said.

Lee Archer was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison suspended for two years and ordered to observe an electronically monitored curfew between the hours of 7pm and 7am for the next 14 weeks and Shaw received the same sentence but for 12 weeks.

They were both also ordered to pay £530 compensation each to the shop and court costs and charges totalling £213.

Ben Archer absconded from the court before he could be sentenced and a warrant was issued for his arrest.