Newbury Co-op raiders, David Plant and Josh Eaton, access store through roof, Mission Impossible-style

TWO burglars who raided a town centre store, Mission Impossible-style, have been locked up.

The pair, tooled up and hooded, went in through the roof – and one even helped himself to an ice cream – before making off with thousands of pounds worth of goods, Reading Crown Court heard on Friday, April 11.

In the dock were 47-year-old David Plant of Horseshoe End, Newbury, and 27-year-old Josh Eaton, of Queens Road, Hermitage.

Lara Jones, prosecuting, said the pair executed a carefully planned, 3am raid in the Co-op in Pound Street, Newbury, on December 2 last year.

Hooded, in dark clothing, with bin bags covering their shoes and carrying rucksacks for swag, they first used a crowbar to pry open a fire exit.

They then climbed emergency stairs to access the roof while avoiding burglar alarms.

Once safely on the roof, they dodged more security measures and broke in via the bakery which, unlike other areas, had no alarms, the court heard.

Ms Jones said that, having avoided the traps intended to deter burglars, they were then able to raid the store at leisure, stuffing the £8,266.60 contents of the cash till, the tobacco kiosk, stamps drawer and alcohol shelves into their rucksacks.

She added: “One of them even helped himself to an ice cream on the way out.”

Ms Jones concluded: “They again avoided tripping the alarms, so the break-in wasn’t discovered until staff arrived for work next morning.”

The store manager said in a victim impact statement that the pair had so cleaned out the store that it took a week to restock it and the business suffered greatly from lost custom.

In addition, there was a huge amount of damage to be made right and costly security upgrades, the court heard.

Both defendants admitted burglary.

Eaton also admitted shoplifting from Camp Hopson in Newbury last December 2 while Plant further admitted possessing cannabis.

Plant has 50 previous convictions while Eaton has 64, five of which are for burglary.

Josh Bibby, for Plant, said there had been an 18-year gap between his client’s last offence and the current ones.

He added: “Unfortunately there were trigger events, including a serious car accident.

“His partner cheated on him and he fell back into addiction to Class A drugs.”

Kia Moran, for Eaton, said her client suffered from ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) and addiction to ketamine and heroin.

He was now seeking treatment, she told the court.

Judge Rachel Drake remarked that “the more people behave like these two, the more we pay for our goods to cover the cost of insurance”.

She sentenced Plant to 12 months imprisonment, half of which he will serve behind bars and the remainder on licence in the community.

Eaton’s sentencing was deferred because another case involving him is pending.

He was meanwhile remanded in custody.