Man jailed for bungling Bedford burglary after being caught on dash cam

A man has been jailed for three years and four months after breaking into a Bedford home, stealing a taxi and being caught on internal dash cam.

James Lake, 43, of no fixed abode, was handed a 40-month sentence for burglary offences yesterday (Thursday) at Luton Crown Court.

Peter Moran, 55, of no fixed abode, was handed a two-year sentence, suspended for 18 months, for his role in accompanying Lake.

On 18 September 2019, Lake and Moran were involved in a burglary at property in Hurst Grove, Bedford, at approximately 5am, where keys to a vehicle were stolen.

Lake and Moran were captured on a neighbouring property’s CCTV leaving the property and looking for the vehicle the keys belonged to. They were with a third man who is due to appear in court at a later date.

Once the vehicle was located, the three men made off in it. Without realising, the men were captured on an internally fitted camera, which was in the rear-view mirror, whilst driving the car and all visual and audio footage was picked up.

When police recovered the vehicle on the same day of the incident, they were able to download all of the footage.

Lake was identified as driving the vehicle and Moran was in the front passenger seat. In the footage they can also be seen rummaging around for money.

Bedfordshire Police’s dedicated burglary unit, Operation Maze, worked hard to identify Lake and Moran on both the CCTV and dashcam footage, resulting in both men being arrested on 1 October.

Detective Constable Andy Boston, who led the investigation, said: “I am pleased that I was able to identify Lake and Moran, and I’m glad Lake will spend a significant time behind bars.

"I do hope, however, that he will spend his time reflecting on his actions. Bedfordshire Police will not tolerate these types of crimes and working to catch these criminals remain a priority.

“In these cases, CCTV and dashcam footage was invaluable and I would urge the public to please consider investing in it if they can afford to do so. Not only can it act as a deterrent to opportunist thieves, it can also help us identify offenders quickly.”

Anyone with suspicions about criminal activity can contact police via befordshire.police.uk/report.

If you’ve been affected by crime you can also contact Signpost for free and confidential support, whether the crime has been reported to police or not.

For more information about Signposts, click here.