A burglar who smashed his way into a mobile phone shop caused thousands of pounds worth of damage before stealing one handset.

James Connelly smashed a window of the EE shop before forcing open a display cabinet and stole a mobile phone valued at £1,399 before fleeing the scene.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 28-year-old was identified by his fingerprints discovered inside the Bournemouth shop following the burglary on July 6 last year.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said the defendant was due to appear in court on the South Coast in February but failed to turn up and an arrest warrant was issued.

She said the defendant was picked up by Cleveland Police the following month and admitted the offence when he appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court.

Andrew Turton, mitigating, said his client’s nonchalant attitude towards the justice system is misplaced and is willing to work with the probation service.

He said: “This has been a one-off offence and nothing for 11 years. He also entered an early plea to the charge.

“He is a father-of-two who is making steps to address his alcohol and drug misuse.

“His nonchalant attitude is probably down to his immaturity and some deficits that have not been identified in his pre-sentence report.”

Connelly, of Gretton Avenue, Middlesbrough, was jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to the charge of burglary when he targeted the Bournemouth shop.

Passing sentence, Judge Jonathan Carroll told the defendant that his actions with the Probation Service showed that he clearly didn’t take his offending seriously and still believed he had done nothing wrong.

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He said: “You smashed your way through a plate glass window at the EE store in Bournemouth, as well as the damage caused going in, you damaged a cabinet and stole a phone worth £1,399.

“The total damage caused to the shop premises that you caused was £5,125, so the total loss was £6,524 and that is not insignificant damage.

“Shops across the country are absolutely being undermined, undercut, in all ways by shop thefts, shop pilferage and this kind of offending.

“When offenders are brought before the court they have to be dealt with and dealt with to demonstrate that this type of offending is not trivial but has lasting impact on communities.”