Northampton man imprisoned after stealing £20,000 of meat from butchers

A man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after stealing £20,000 of meat from a butchers and money from a charity box at Northampton General Hospital.

Peter Owen, aged 40, of Great Gull Crescent in Southfield, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Wednesday, July 27 after pleading guilty to two counts of burglary other than dwelling.

The court heard that Owen broke into a butchers in Wellingborough Road on December 17, 2020 before proceeding to steal food products valued up to £20,000.

Michael Hagger, prosecuting, told the court that Owen then used a brick to break into the Oncology Ward at Northampton General Hospital to steal money from a charity collection between January 1, 2021 and January 4, 2021. The value of the money taken is unknown.

The court heard that Owen was arrested that same month but denied offending to police, giving “no comment” interviews.

Owen had 43 previous convictions for 89 offences, including 47 theft offences and eight commercial burglary convictions as well as other offences relating to drugs, breach of court orders and use of firearms.

Mark Hemming, in mitigation, said Owen feels “remorse and embarrassment” for the offences and, at the time of his offending, was a habitual user of drugs and had struggled with homelessness following the death of his brother.

It was suggested to the court that Owen’s use of the brick to gain entry to the hospital required a degree of pre-planning.

In response, Mr Hemming said: “There was obviously some planning but I would argue not any significant plan. I get that it was a hospital but it could be considered to be a low value theft. The money would be of little use to them because it would go to a charity.”

The defence barrister added that it could not be proven where the brick was acquired to determine how planned the burglary was and the butchers would have been protected by insurance.

Mr Recorder Sprawson, commenting on the burglary of the butchers, said: “The time of your offending coincided with Christmas and the owner had to use savings to replenish his stock to make sure his customers were not disappointed. He then had to remain at the butchers for six days to make sure it did not happen again.

“This was a terribly traumatic, difficult and challenging time for the owner.”

It was noted that Owen was using his time in prison “well” by addressing his drug use and seeking rehabilitation.

Recorder Sprawson added: “Given your antecedent history, it would be inappropriate and unjust to the victims to deal with this on the basis of a community order.”

Mr Recorder Sprawson sentenced Owen to 11 months imprisonment for the butcher burglary and a further four months to be served in prison consecutively for the hospital burglary.

Owen will serve a total of 15 months in custody.