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A 49-year-old man has been jailed after breaking into an Ipswich jewellers and climbing onto a roof causing the town centre to be closed off for several hours in May.
Officers were called to Butter Market at approximately 4.35am on Thursday 16 May, to reports of a burglary in progress at Carat’s Jewellers after the alarm had been activated.
A further call reported that a man had climbed onto the roof of the premises and was climbing over several other businesses.
A number of emergency services resources were deployed to the area, including police, negotiators, ambulance personnel and Suffolk Fire and Rescue, and surrounding roads were cordoned off for public safety.
After nine hours the situation was safely resolved, and all road restrictions were lifted.
Daniel Coulson, of Woodbridge Road in Ipswich, was subsequently charged with two counts of burglary other than dwelling, relating to Carats Jewellers as well as Staff Right Recruitment where cash was stolen. He was also charged with intentionally/recklessly causing a public nuisance.
He was further charged with another count of burglary other than dwelling, relating to an incident at Europcar UK Ltd on Woodbridge Road, Ipswich, that had taken place the previous week, on Thursday 9 May.
A Mercedes car, electronic devices, coffee machine, the keys of 17 vehicles and 10 electric vehicle charging cards were among the items stolen. CCTV footage indicated a man had stolen the items. It was later reported to police that a man matching the description of the suspect on the CCTV footage had tried to pawn items the next day. He had provided his name and identification as per the pawnbroker’s policy.
Following these charges and his guilty plea, Coulson chose to work with the Operation Converter team where he admitted a further six offences which were taken into consideration by the court.
Coulson appeared at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday, Tuesday 23 July, where he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for the burglary offences. He was also to sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for intentionally causing a public nuisance, to be served consecutively, giving him a total of two years and six months in jail. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £228.
Detective Constable Jack Evans said: “Coulson is a brazen individual who caused significant impact to business owners, the Ipswich community and emergency services.
“His reckless behaviour on 16 May put not only himself but also members of the public on the ground at great risk of harm and to resolve the situation in the safest way possible, a considerable area of the town centre had to be cordoned off.
“Businesses were unable to open whilst the incident was ongoing and, as a consequence, suffered significant financial losses.
“The incident also required a large number of emergency services personnel to be present for several hours, which restricted their abilities to support other people who needed our assistance.
“It is satisfying to see him in jail where he will have plenty of time to reflect on his criminal behaviour.”
Operation Converter is an initiative aimed at encouraging offenders to admit their crimes. This has benefits for all – police are able to give victims some peace of mind that an offender has been caught for the burglary of their home or the theft of their property and the individual has the opportunity to clear their slate, so they can have a fresh start when they are released from prison, without the possibility they will later be traced for a further offence.
Offenders have to give sufficient detail for officers to be sure they have committed the crime and these offences are then ‘taken into consideration’ at sentencing.