A MAN arrested near the scene of two burglaries claimed he ran from police as he was acting as a “decoy” for his accomplice, who was on the run, at the time.

But, following Colin Ian Hawkes’ arrest, in an allotment where he was hiding, police recovered a sock, stockings and a bamboo cane, nearby, all believed to have been used in the burglaries less than an hour earlier.

Durham Crown Court heard he was also wearing gloves, despite it being dawn on August 22, last year.

Hawkes also repeatedly told officers that they would not find any forensic evidence to link him to the crimes, in which bamboo canes with adhesive tape on the tips were placed through letterboxes of homes on Biddick Woods estate, near the Lambton Estate, between Chester-le-Street and Shiney Row.

Car keys were successfully “fished” from one house enabling the burglars to drive off in a Ford Ka, parked outside.

Police found the Ka abandoned near the allotment where the arrest was made.

Hawkes, 35, of Havelock Court, Ford Estate, Sunderland, who has previous convictions for similar offences, denied two counts of burglary and one of taking a vehicle without consent.

But he was convicted on all three counts following unanimous jury verdicts.

Judge Christopher Prince adjourned sentence to allow victim impact statements to be prepared for the court.