Balaclava-clad burglars climbed on to shop roof

TWO burglars climbed on to a Middlesbrough shop roof through the ceiling in the loos.

- By ESTHER HALLIGAN

Damien Pears, 35, and Ryan Stewart, 39, clambered on top of the Family Shopper store on Overdale Road in Park End.

Teesside Crown Court heard police were called while the burglary was in progress, at 1.51am on Saturday, April 5, and that a gang of four men in balaclavas had ripped the shop shutters off. They then smashed their way inside through the sliding glass door. Two of the men caught on CCTV got away and have never been identified. The gang failed to get the safe open with a crowbar, and left extensive damage to the ceiling of the toilets and to the external roof of the convenience store. Police called the fire brigade so they could use long ladders, to get Pears and Stewart off the roof.