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Pair jailed for series of thefts and ram raid burglary

Laganside courthouse in Belfast
Laganside courthouse in Belfast Laganside courthouse in Belfast

A MAN and a teenage boy have been jailed for their part in a series of burglaries, thefts and aggravated driving offences which included a ram raid.

The pair - a 26-year old man and a youth - were told their actions in the early hours of September 26, 2015 put members of the public at risk.

Patrick O'Rawe, from Albert Street in west Belfast, was handed a 13 and a half month sentence, with half to be spent behind bars and half on supervised licence.

His co-accused will spend 18 months in a young offenders centre, followed by 16 months on supervised licence.

Belfast Crown Court heard the duo were part of a four-man gang involved in the crime spree.

Events unfolded when two cars were stolen during a break-in at a house in Holywood - although there was no evidence that the pair were involved.

However, the two stolen cars - a Ford Puma and a Ford Focus - were involved a short time later in a ram raid on a clothes shop in the Lisburn Road area of Belfast.

The Puma rammed the shop window and four men were seen running from the premises carrying armfuls of clothing. Garments amounting to £26,000 were taken, none of which were recovered or fit for re-sale.

The gang left the Puma at the scene and fled in the stolen Focus which was driven by O'Rawe. Not long after the ram raid, the Focus collided with another vehicle on the Cliftonville Road, which ended up on its roof.

A prosecutor told the court that the driver of the second vehicle sustained serious injuries in the early morning smash.

The four people in the stolen vehicle ran from the car after the collision, and while the youth was detained after being located sitting on the kerb between two parked cars, O'Rawe - who fled the scene - was arrested after his blood was recovered from the airbag of the Focus.

The youth was linked to the break-in after a fragment of glass found on his clothing matched the glass from the window of the clothes shop.

O'Rawe - who has 84 previous convictions - admitted being the driver of the Focus and later admitted offences including aggravated vehicle taking causing damage to another vehicle, and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.

The youth, who has amassed 39 convictions, admitted being a passenger in both stolen cars, and of breaking into the clothes shop.

A barrister for O'Rawe, said his client "expresses to the court the remorse he feels for his behaviour" and has accepted his offending was serious.

A lawyer for the youth said that when the offences were committed, his client was under the influence of drugs and that drugs misuse had "been part of his life for the last few years." Saying he had left school with no qualifications, the lawyer said his client was now attending daily education classes in Hydebank YOC.