Serial teenage burglar jailed after entering unlocked Northampton home and stealing car for joy ride

A 19-year-old man has been sent to prison after entering an unlocked Northampton resident’s home, stealing their car and taking it for a joy ride that ended with causing hundreds of pounds of damage.

Justin Lake, aged 19, of no fixed abode, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday, May 4 after pleading guilty to one count of burglary.

The court heard that the defendant was trying doors in The Orchard, Kislingbury at around 1am on March 15 earlier this year when he came across a property with an unlocked door and entered.

Serena Varatharajah, prosecuting, said that Lake swiped a set of car keys from the house as the homeowner slept in their bed upstairs.

Lake then stole the vehicle parked in the property’s driveway, the court heard.

Around half an hour later, a police officer - who was in the Sixfields area responding to another matter - spotted the vehicle in Duston Mill Lane. The front of it was damaged and a large part of the bumper had come off. Two people were standing at the front of the car - one of whom was the defendant.

Ms Varatharajah said that, upon noticing the police officer, Lake and the other person ran off into the woodland area leaving the engine of the car running.

Lake’s fingerprints were found on the car’s gearstick and on the handle of the door to the victim’s house, the court heard.

Lake was arrested a couple of weeks after the burglary and he gave police a no comment interview.

The victim, in a statement, said that the vehicle required repairs and, although this was covered by insurance, there were significant excesses to pay on it.

Lake has committed 49 previous offences including multiple burglaries, robberies, aggravated vehicle taking, violence and other dishonesty offences. When he committed this latest burglary, he was on licence for a previous burglary.

Claire Fraser, in mitigation, told the court that Lake - who is still young - had a difficult upbringing and finds himself in a “revolving door” that he is struggling to come out of.

Ms Fraser, talking about the burglary, said: “This was opportunistic and therefore falls within low culpability. He was not found to be in possession of any tools to gain entry or anything of that nature at all.”

The defence barrister argued that there was no clear evidence that Lake was driving the stolen car, despite his fingerprints being found on the vehicle’s gearstick.

She said that Lake will find it “difficult” to be released back into the community after custody because he has little family support.

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane, in her sentencing remarks, said: “You have spent much of your childhood in case and you now have problems with substance misuse. When you leave prison, you will have little support.

“It is a tragic picture.”

Lake was sentenced to two years and five months in prison and disqualified from driving for three years and two months.