Burglar's crime spree included car theft and 90mph police pursuit

JUDGE SAID HIS CRIMINAL RECORD FEATURED 'APPALLING CATALOGUE OF OFFENCES'

- By PETER CRAIG and MARK NAYLOR

A PROLIFIC burglar went on a summer crime spree, including stealing a car in a burglary and leading police on a 90mph pursuit through Hull.

Lewis Armstrong-Doyle was employed to clear garden waste but he returned later to one of the properties to steal a girl's bicycle and frozen foods from a garden shed, a court heard.

Armstrong-Doyle, 27, formerly of Saxcourt, Orchard Park estate, Hull, but recently in custody on remand, admitted two burglaries on June 23 and 29, attempted burglary on July 6 and theft on July 31. He also admitted a string of motoring offences, including theft of a car, driving while disqualified and having no insurance on August 25.

Michael Masson, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that the owner of a home in Rosedale Grove, west Hull, discovered her daughter's £800 Voodoo cycle had been stolen, along with a circular saw, valued at £280, and frozen foods, valued at more than £100, from a freezer. Having looked at CCTV footage, she recognised the burglar as one of the men who visited her home a week earlier.

Armstrong-Doyle's stepfather alerted police when the defendant went to the man's home and took cans of beer and clothing at 3.30am on June 29.

At the Strawberry Fields supported-living premises for vulnerable adults, staff noticed Armstrong-Doyle acting suspiciously in the offices of the charity on July 6. He had been trying to force a window.

On July 25, he returned and again was spotted by a staff member as he was trying to enter a block of flats.

The theft offence happened at Home Bargains on July 31 as Armstrong-Doyle was seen by a customer filling a bag with Lynx deodorant spray, valued at £78, and leaving.

On August 25, a resident of Park Avenue, Hull, returned home and left her handbag on a dining table. But in the early hours, Armstrong-Doyle crept in and stole keys to her Nissan Micra car, along with cash and bank cards.