Bungling burglar loses appeal against his sentence

[dutchman]

An incompetent burglar behind an intricately planned raid - which netted only a cigarette lighter - has lost an appeal against his sentence.

Ryan Michael McCloskey was one of a gang which targeted Farrans construction yard, in Cross Road, Edgwick, Coventry, on the hunt for high-end technical equipment.

The raiders had carefully bagged up their takings in a wheelbarrow when they were spotted on CCTV by a security guard.

The gang scattered but were chased by guard dogs, Lord Justice McCombe told London’s Appeal Court.

After they fled with nothing but the lighter, they tried to give their pursuers the slip by plunging into a nearby canal, but were finally cornered.

McCloskey, 33, of Ballingham Close, Tile Hill, was handed a total 21-month sentence at Warwick Crown Court in November after admitting burglary.

His lawyers today challenged that sentence in the Appeal Court with claims that it was far too tough.

However carefully planned the raid may have been, they pointed to the gang’s spectacular lack of success.

McCloskey said he only got involved due to the pressure of crushing drug debts, to the tune of £75,000.

But Lord Justice McCombe, sitting with Mr Justice Irwin and Judge Sarah Munro QC, said McCloskey’s punishment was “not excessive”.

“It was a well planned, if incompetently executed, venture. The appeal is dismissed,” the judge concluded.

[rebbonk]

Far too tough? It ought have been 5 years!