Wisbech burglar jailed after being caught on camera stealing from van
A man who was caught on dashcam while stealing a van has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Cambridgeshire Police said Richard Lake, 36, had tried to remove the dashcam but instead filmed himself inside the Citroen Berlingo van he was stealing.
Police added that Lake was also captured on CCTV earlier the same day when he burgled a house in Robin Mews, Wisbech, stealing the van keys and two Samsung Galaxy tablets.
He had watched and waited for the homeowner to leave before breaking into the property at 8.44am on 12 August 2023.
Police said that unbeknown to Lake there was a tracker on the vehicle which alerted the owner who reported it stolen.
The vehicle was tracked and was quickly showing as stationary in Acacia Avenue, Wisbech.
Officers were led to a field via the tracking company and found numerous resuscitation dummies strewn around along with first aid items. These had been inside the vehicle when it was stolen.
Officers also recovered the dashcam with incriminating evidence of Lake being in the passenger seat after his fumbled attempts to remove it resulted in him recording himself.
Lake of Ingle Road, Elm, Wisbech, denied burgling the house and stealing the van, however, he was found guilty on 10 December. He was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court to three years in prison.
Det Sgt Rhiann Ward said: “Lake waited on the man to leave his home before breaking in – he has no comprehension of the impact this causes victims of burglary.
“I hope the victim will move forward whereas Lake will be spending this Christmas behind bars where he belongs.”