Bedford man jailed for hole-in-the-wall burglary at designer menswear store

A burglar, who entered a high-end clothing store in Bedford by digging through a wall, has been jailed.

Richard West, 46, of Shakespeare Road, Bedford, was found guilty of one count of burglary and one count of attempting to commit burglary, at Luton Crown Court on Friday (August 6).

At around 2am on Sunday, July 4, officers responding to an alarm at designer menswear store Maysons, caught a man behind the shop wearing a coat with the shop’s price tag still on it.

A hole in the wall was then discovered between the High Street store and a corridor in the adjoining property. Items from the shop totalling almost £11,000 in value had been bagged and placed on the other side.

CCTV footage obtained from the store showed West entering, selecting items and bagging them, and putting on the coat.

West was jailed for 32 months.

PC Luke Skelton, from Bedfordshire Police’s crime investigation department, who led the investigation, said: “On his arrest, West said 'you caught me fair and square'.

“Although he was only in the store for a matter of minutes, he caused considerable damage and helped himself to a large quantity of designer goods.

“There was a significant amount of evidence pointing towards his guilt and the planning required to execute this burglary, and I’m happy that he’s now behind bars.”