Man stole car and used it in chandlery ram raid

LEE EASBY JAILED AFTER THEFT OF CAR AND FISHING PRODUCTS

- By CARL EVE

A MAN has been jailed after he stole a car and used it to ram raid a chandlery store in Coxside.

Trevor Easby appeared alongside Lee Barnett at Plymouth Crown Court after they pleaded guilty to a number of offences which took place on June 3 and 4 of last year.

Prosecutor Ian Graham told the court that Easby, aged 43 and of Cecil Street, Plymouth, first targeted a Hyundai Kona car in Falcon Road, on the evening of June 3.

The owner, an 85-year-old, told police they had left the car outside their home but in the morning found that one of their car keys was missing and the car was gone.

Police later examined CCTV in the street and spotted Easby trying car door handles and was he later seen to drive off in the car. Barnett, 51 and from Park Avenue, Devonport, was then seen getting into the car further down the road and the car continued driving down the road.

A short while later, CCTV picked up the car with Easby driving and Barnett in the passenger seat - at the entrance to the Queens Anne Battery off Teats Hill Road, Coxside. The car was seen to briefly stop at the barrier, reverse slightly, then run over the pavement and twice ram into the Force 4 Chandlery marine supply store door window, caving in the shopfront.

Barnett was then seen to enter, along with Easby and they fled with around £1,000 worth of Garmin electronic fishfinder products.

The court heard the repair bill the smashed shopfront was estimated to be around £2,500.