Balaclava-wearing Northampton burglar sentenced to 30 months in prison for £7,000 thefts that left victims 'haunted'

A balaclava-wearing Northampton burglar who left his victims feeling "haunted" after stealing £7,000 worth of property has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Lee John Floyd McQuade, of Dairymeadow Court, Northampton, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on Friday (March 4) for multiple counts of burglary dwelling and theft without violence.

The 36-year-old was sentenced after three burglaries that took place in August 2021, two of which occurring within hours of each other.

They saw McQuade and two unnamed accomplices break into people's homes with crowbars to steal highly valuable items such as electric bikes and an expensive watch worth more than £1,000, the court heard.

Sebastian Walker, prosecuting, said: "In the evening of August 7, a group of three persons wearing balaclavas and gloves and carrying a crowbar were seen. They then broke into the property…stealing a Cartier watch worth about £1,000. The victim lived at the home with his wife and child.

"The second burglary relates to the early hours of August 8 at another property where a group of three similarly dressed men approached the property of the next victim, who lived there with his wife.

"When he woke at around 02.30 in the morning to go to the toilet, he found the garage door open and two electric bikes had been stolen from him. The bikes were insured, but the costs of the excess and repairing the garage door reached £220.

"The homeowners in the third burglary had been on holiday between August14 and 16. When they left their home they thought it was safely secured. When they returned, they found the windows and the garage door had been broken into and an electric bike worth around £3,000 had been stolen. As in the other cases, this bike was not recovered."

In impact statements read to the court, the first victim described how his daughter was so scared by the incident that she now cannot stay at home alone for fear of being targeted again.

The father himself said that the wearing of balaclavas and the use of a crowbar had left him "haunted by what could have happened if he or a family member had challenged them".

Each of the other victims gave similar statements.

However, they did not have to wait long for their culprit to be found, as the court heard that police soon detected a "large blue van", which the three men had been using to conduct their robberies.

In an attempt to hide their identities, the men disguised their number plate with a piece of black tape, changing a "WF53" plate to look like "WE53".

However, the disguise did not elude authorities for long, as McQuade was apprehended by police on August 17.

In police interviews he denied engaging in burglary, instead claiming to be a scrap metal dealer when really he was unemployed.

Speaking in McQuade's defence, Nicholas Whitehorn argued that his client "suffers greatly from depression and anxiety" with "quite severe symptoms".

As a result of this, McQuade would reportedly abuse alcohol or drugs, leading to "blackouts" in which he committed his offences.

However, after around six months in custody with consistent medication, Mr Whitehorn argued that McQuade will "continue to make some progress in his life".

In sentencing, Recorder Timothy Green said: "These are serious burglaries."

"One victim has reported the distress and anxiety that he feels as a result of you targeting his home for burglary while he was asleep at home.

"You damaged that feeling of safety which he has a right to feel at home and that aggravates this offending.

"I am aware of your diagnosis of PTSD, and the work ethic which you possess, but did not display while you were committing these offences.

"These are serious offences. If you are before this court again for burglaries... you will get higher and higher sentences."

McQuade was sentenced to 30 months in prison for the three burglaries. He was also sentenced to 16 weeks to run concurrently due to his breach of the suspended sentence.