VICTIMS of burglar Lee Doyle were left without court-ordered compensation as police destroyed one of the items that was to be sold to raise the funds – and lost the other.

Doyle, then 34, was jailed for five years and three months at Oxford Crown Court in 2019 after he admitted a year-long break-in spree. He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of burglary and a charge of handling stolen goods.

Among the items stolen was an antique chalice worth £5,000 and a diamond ring. He left behind his DNA in what prosecutors labelled his ‘calling card’.

A judge ordered that Doyle pay £3,800 in compensation through a Proceeds of Crime Act order, with the funds to be raised by selling his boat and a drone that had been seized by the police.

However, the £3,800 confiscation order was last year changed to a nominal £1 as Doyle had no assets that could be used to pay the sum. It emerged that the drone had been destroyed and the boat was ‘stolen’ and it was impossible to prove that a similar boat – traced by Surrey Police – was Doyle’s.

The ‘unhappy situation’ emerged when the case ended up in the Court of Appeal last month.

The senior judges, based at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, were asked to quash the original compensation order.

The case went to the senior court after Judge Nigel Daly, who dealt with the case at Oxford Crown Court, allowed an appeal if it transpired that he did not have the power to quash the first compensation order.

He did not have that power.

However, the three judges allowed the appeal and annulled the original compensation order. A barrister instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service spoke only to describe the case as a ‘very unhappy situation for Mr Doyle and the victims'.

Thames Valley Police has now released a statement following the Court of Appeal hearing.

A spokesman said: “We are aware of the impact that Doyle had on his victims.

“With regards to the compensation they received we are aware that this would have been greater had the drone not been destroyed so for this we apologise.

“With regards to the boat it was not possible for the boat to be seized throughout the case due to a number of different factors regarding ownership and identification of the boat.”

The drone was kept in police stores for two years before it was destroyed. The force's policy is that such items are destroyed after two years unless there is a specific request for them to be kept.

An email was sent to the detective originally in charge of the case warning them of the drone’s impending fate but, as the officer had left the force, the email was not picked up.

Regarding the boat, the force said that Doyle originally claimed the vessel was not his. As a result, it was not seized at the time.

It was moved from Penton Hook Marina, in Chertsey, Surrey, to a yard in Hampton ‘by an unknown person’.

Doyle then claimed the boat belonged to him. The cruiser was reported stolen on his behalf. Surrey Police managed to trace a ‘similar boat’ but it could not be proved through a check of the hull ID number that the vessel was Doyle’s. Consequently, the boat could not be seized by the police.

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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

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward