'Feral' grandad jailed for 4am phone shop raid

A grandad with the longest criminal record a judge had ever seen has been jailed after smashing his way into a shopping centre.

- by Nick Frame

Dilwyn Hoare was with an accomplice when they used an axe to force entry to Crossgates Shopping Centre in the dead of night, then used a brick to smash the window of the O2 shop.

They made off with iPhones and tablets worth more than £16,000.

Drug-addict Hoare, who has 235 previous offences to his name, was jailed at Leeds Crown Court.

Judge Ray Singh told him: "You knew exactly what you were doing. You have been in trouble so many times, I'm not sure I've met an offender with 235 offences on their record.