A set of Second World War medals were stolen in a burglary spree committed over just one afternoon.

A fresh-faced gang-of-four were caught standing between an Audi used during the four burglaries and a Polaris Ranger buggy stolen that afternoon.

Sentencing James Johnson, who was just 16 at the time of the thefts, Judge Maria Lamb said: “You went out thieving belongings of other people and to do that you entered their homes, about the greatest violation there can be.

“If that had ever happened to you, you would understand that. I hope you don’t find yourself in a similar situation.”

Prosecutor Andrew Jordon told Oxford Crown Court that the gang used the Audi – stolen around a week earlier – as a getaway vehicle during the spree on April 25, 2019.

At the first property, in Chipping Norton, front and side doors were forced and jewellery stolen. The jewellery was later recovered in the Audi.

Thieves broke through a window of the second house, in Chilton, near Didcot, and made off with a bottle of champagne and two bottles of ‘good wine’.

In Minster Lovell, a set of Second World War medals, $400 cash and more jewellery were among the 63 items stolen and later recovered from the Audi. A bottle of steel cleaner was thrown around the interior of the house, which Mr Jordon said was ‘presumably in order to hinder any forensic examination’.  

The Polaris Ranger 4x4 vehicle, found near the thieves, was a staff pool vehicle owned by a holiday cottage business. It was stolen between 2.30pm and 4pm on the afternoon of the spree.

Johnson, of Evesham Road, Cleeve Prior, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to conspiracy to burgle and theft. He had 11 offences on his record, including for burglaries committed after the 2019 offences.

Mitigating, Mahan Manu said a letter had been written to the judge by an amanuensis, but summarising his client’s ‘sentiments’. The youngster recognised the impact the burglaries would have had on the victims and was ‘something that he now wants to put right’.

Now 20, he left school at an early age, unable to read or write. Since his incarceration on remand he had undertaken educational courses.

Sentencing, Judge Lamb said she would be ‘perfectly justified’ in sending Johnson to prison, taking a starting point of 18 months before credit for his early guilty plea reduced any jail time.

But the amount of time he had spent in custody, equivalent to a sentence of around 20 months’ imprisonment, meant she could take ‘a rather different course’.

Johnson received a two-year community order with 80 hours unpaid work and up to 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

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