Bexhill man who burgled 3 businesses in town centre is jailed

Police said Alan Richardson, 49, of Devonshire Road, Bexhill, appeared before Lewes Crown Court for sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of burglary at an earlier hearing.

He had also admitted to interfering with a vehicle in St Leonards.

Police said he was sentenced to a total of 16 months imprisonment, after also breaching the conditions of a suspended sentence from November 2021.

The court heard that Richardson broke into Pebbles on the Beach restaurant in Marina Court Avenue in the early hours of Saturday, October 29, last year and stole a till containing a small amount of cash.

Police said four weeks later, between Wednesday, November 23, and Thursday, November 24, Richardson broke into IMG Chartered Accountants in Endwell Road and stole cash, a crystal decanter, two glasses in a box worth £70 and a Nescafe coffee jar.

During the early hours of Thursday, November 24, he also burgled Poppyseed Bakery in Western Road and made off with a large quantity of cash, police added.

Richardson had also damaged a vehicle, in Maze Hill, St Leonards, on October 4, police said

Rother District Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Olivia Carroll said: “This is a great result. Within 48 hours of a forensic identification we arrested Richardson and charged him with these burglaries and recovered the stolen property.

“Business crime is impactive and we know what effect these break-ins had on the shop owners and the local community in Bexhill.

”I hope this result provides reassurance that we will take action when we can identify an offender and will continue to work alongside the business community to protect them from harm and bring perpetrators to justice.”

Sussex Police said it has its own Business Crime Team dedicated to tackling business crime.

The team supports the business community by working closely with partners such as the Business Crime Reduction Partnership and Safer Sussex Business Partnership (SSBP), businesses and customers to share intelligence across the county.

Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne, who launched the SSBP in February 2020, said: “Cases like this are exactly why I am encouraging businesses and staff to report incidents so that Sussex Police can build the best possible data picture and collate the necessary evidence for successful prosecutions.”