[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback]
	England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions >> Attorney Generals Reference No 114 - 115 of 2009 [2010] EWCA Crim 1459 (24 June 2010) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2010/1459.html Cite as: [2010] EWCA Crim 1459

[New search] [Contents list] [Printable RTF version] [Help]

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
CROWN COURT SITTING AT WOOLWICH
H.H.J. PEGDEN QC
T/2009/7312

		Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
		24/06/2010

Lord Justice Hooper:

1. At the conclusion of the hearing of an application by Her Majesty's Solicitor General for permission to refer a case to this court on the grounds that sentences passed on the two offenders by His Honour Judge Pegden QC were unduly lenient, we announced that leave was granted.
2. We also announced that in the case of Jason McInerney we quashed the concurrent determinate terms of three years and nine months imposed by the sentencing judge on count 15 (robbery) and count 19 (robbery) and the concurrent determinate term of three years on count 22 (aggravated burglary) and substituted for those sentences on all three counts concurrent sentences of imprisonment for public protection ("IPP") with a minimum term of nine years, the sentences to date from 19 November 2009. We did not interfere with the other sentences, nor were we asked by the Solicitor General to do so.
3. We also announced that in the case of Wayne McInerney we quashed the concurrent determinate terms of four years' imprisonment imposed by the sentencing judge on counts 11 (causing grievous bodily harm with intent) and 32 (causing grievous bodily harm with intent) and substituted for those sentences concurrent sentences of IPP with a minimum term of six years, the sentences to date from 19 November 2009. We did not interfere with the concurrent sentence of three years' imprisonment passed on count 33 (inflicting grievous bodily harm) nor were we asked by the Solicitor General to do so.
4. We now give our reasons.

Jason McInerney

5. The first offender, Jason McInerney, is 21 years of age, having been born on 6 December 1987.
6. On 19 November 2009, Jason McInerney was sentenced to 3 years 9 months' imprisonment. This sentence was imposed following Jason McInerney's guilty plea at the first opportunity and comprised the following terms for the different offences (we have underlined the counts which are the subject matter of the Reference):

Counts 5 & 6 burglary and theft – 3 years and 2 years (concurrent)

Count 7 burglary – 3 years (concurrent)

Counts 9 & 10 burglary and theft – 3 years and 2 years (concurrent)

Count 15 robbery – 3 years 9 months (concurrent)

Count 16 burglary – 3 years (concurrent)

Counts 17 & 18 burglary and theft – 3 years and 2 years (concurrent)

Count 19 robbery – 3 years 9 months (concurrent)

Counts 20 & 21 burglary and theft – 3 years and 2 years (concurrent)

Counts 22 & 23 aggravated burglary and theft – 3 years 9 months and 2 years (concurrent)

Counts 24 & 25 burglary and theft – 3 years and 2 years (concurrent)

Counts 26 & 27 burglary and theft – 3 years and 2 years (concurrent)

Count 28 burglary – 3 years (concurrent)

Count 29 burglary – 3 years (concurrent)

Count 30 burglary – 3 years (concurrent)

Count 31 assault occasioning actual bodily harm – 2 years and 6 months (concurrent).

7. At the time of committing all of these offences Jason McInerney was unlawfully at large, having escaped from Reading Crown Court on 14 March 2008, where he was being tried for robbery and attempted murder. He was subsequently convicted of the robbery and of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Jason McInerney was not arrested until 8 August 2008 (five months later) when he was found in a hotel room at the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel. He was with his brother Wayne and another man.
8. These offences of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm with intent involved at least three men, including Jason McInerney (but not his brother Wayne), first (on 23 November 2006) robbing a man of his car, a powerful VW Golf, and secondly (on 25 November 2006), shooting a bridegroom at his wedding. The car was used to get away following the shooting. The victim of the robbery had advertised his car for sale. Jason McInerney lured him to the place where the offence took place and there subjected him to a violent and prolonged assault before taking his car. False number plates were then fitted. Jason McInerney, with two others, drove in the car to a hotel where a wedding reception was taking place. Two of them, with guns, entered the hotel, masked. The third waited in the car. One of the armed men walked to the top table at the wedding feast and stood behind the victim who was sitting next to his bride. He aimed at his genitals and fired. The bullet did not injure the man's genitals, but did penetrate his upper thigh. The armed men then left, got in the car, and escaped. The Crown alleged that the motive was sexual jealousy.
9. For the 2006 offences Jason McInerney was sentenced on 23 January 2009 to IPP with a minimum term of 8 years.
10. On 2 April 2009 Jason McInerney was sentenced by HHJ Carroll for the offence of escape from the dock on 14^th March 2008 at Reading Crown Court and an offence of wounding by biting the nose of a police officer who attempted to prevent the escape, sentences of 2 years and 3 years respectively were imposed on Jason McInerney, concurrently with each other but consecutive to other sentences passed at the same time. Those other offences were:

i) two assaults occasioning actual bodily harm committed on 4 August 2008 (following the escape and whilst unlawfully at large) when Jason McInerney and his brother Wayne and one other attacked two men in a hotel bedroom causing significant injuries, 18 months on each, concurrently.

ii) three offences of burglary of dwellings, committed with his brother Wayne McInerney on 6 and 7 August 2008 (likewise following the escape and whilst unlawfully at large), 3½ years on each concurrently, and concurrently with the 18 months sentences for the two assaults.

11. Thus the total sentence passed on Jason McInerney on 2 April 2009 was 6½ years. That was ordered to be served concurrently with the IPP imposed on 23 January 2009. The effect of the sentence was not to add any time to the minimum term of eight years which he had been ordered to serve when the IPP was imposed.
12. The two assaults and the three burglaries had been investigated by the Metropolitan Police. The offences for which he was sentenced on 19 November 2009 (three of which are the subject matter of the reference) were investigated by the Thames Valley Police. In an ideal world they would have been dealt with on 2 April 2009 but the prosecution was not ready by then.
13. In annexure A we set out the facts of the offences for which Jason McInerney was sentenced on 19 November 2009 other than the three offences which are the subject matter of the Reference to which we now turn.
14. We turn to the facts of count 15, robbery. On 27 July 2008, Anita Morgan stopped her BMW at the roundabout in Denham after witnessing a crash between two motorcyclists and a Porsche, which was being driven by Jason McInerney's brother Wayne McInerney. This was the event which led to the sentences imposed on Wayne McInerney which are dealt with later in this judgment. Following the collision with the second motorbike, Jason McInerney, his brother Wayne and a third man, leapt from the Porsche and surrounded the victim's car. Jason McInerney, who was armed with an axe, shouted at Anita Morgan to get out of her car. Understandably terrified, she did so and was pushed aside as Jason McInerney and the two others got into her car and drove away. This offence was committed while two men were lying injured on the ground having been knocked off their motorcycles by Wayne McInerney. They both survived, one seriously injured and other less so. At the time when the offence was committed, Jason McInerney cannot have known whether the victims would live or die. Jason McInerney's motive in committing this robbery was to facilitate his own escape (he was unlawfully at large) and that of his brother Wayne who had just committed the very serious offences against the motorcyclists.
15. The facts of count 19 (robbery) were as follows. On 28 July 2008 Howard Forland was driving his BMW along Shenley Hill when he was bumped by the vehicle behind him. He pulled over and two men got out of the car behind – one of these was Jason McInerney. Mr Forland was thrown to the ground and warned by Jason McInerney, "I have a gun and I'll kill you." Mr Forland subsequently identified Jason McInerney.
16. The facts of count 22 (aggravated burglary) were as follows. On 2 August 2008, Jason McInerney broke into a house at 15 The Ridgeway, Cuffley. The occupiers were on holiday, but their employees, Mr and Mrs Dudley, were present at the address. Mr Dudley noticed a black BMW on the driveway of the premises. He could see a baseball bat leaning just inside the front door and broken glass. One of the burglars exited the premises and said, "Come on fat old man" to Mr Dudley. The other two burglars then exited the house and retrieved a chisel from the BMW. One of the burglars threw a hammer at Mr Dudley's head. Mr Dudley smashed the back window of the BMW, but the three men fled the scene, taking with them the Mercedes AMG63 which had been parked on the driveway. The two vehicles drove away in convoy at speed. The police recovered two chisels, a baseball bat, a club hammer, a truncheon and a rubber mallet from the premises. Jason McInerney continued to use the stolen Mercedes until his arrest on 8^th August 2008, when it was found parked outside the hotel in which he was staying and the key was found in his hotel room.
17. In addition to the above offences Jason McInerney had previous convictions dating from January 2004 (six offences of dwelling house burglary, for which he received a 12 month supervision order) and 5 March 2007 (violent disorder, for which he was sentenced to 12 months in a Young Offenders' Institution).
18. The total sentence of three years nine months' imprisonment, being ordered to serve concurrently, did not add to the minimum term of eight years which he had been ordered to serve when the IPP was imposed on 23 January 2009.
19. It follows that notwithstanding all of the offences committed by Jason McInerney when he escaped on 14 March 2008 and when thereafter unlawfully at large during a period of some five months, the date on which he would be eligible for parole following the imposition of the IPP on January 23 2009 was left unaltered. In one sense he committed all of these offences "for free".
20. The aggravating features of the offences for which Jason McInerney received on 19 November 2009 a sentence of three years nine months' imprisonment hardly need enumerating. They include: the fact that the offences were committed with others whilst on the run and to enable him to stay on the run, the number of offences, many involving high value property, the use of weapons and the fact that they were in many cases premeditated. The only available mitigation was that Jason McInerney pleaded guilty, about which the judge said both about him and his brother: "I take into account very much in your favour your earliest possible pleas of guilty".
21. In passing sentence the judge said, after referring to some personal mitigation concerning the death of the father of the two offenders:

... I also take into account that these offences should have been dealt with – and this is an important factor – in April of this year when other offences committed in the same two weeks were before the court and dealt with by HHJ Carroll. That fact was particularly noted in April by him and the sentences passed today, as I have indicated to your counsel, must be concurrent, in my judgement, with those sentences, although, of course, the terms will begin today.

22. In so far as the hearing before HHJ Carroll is concerned the Reference states:

The Judge knew of the fact that other charges were about to be preferred and declined to accede to an application on behalf of Wayne McInerney that the matter should be adjourned so that everything could be dealt with at the same time, by the same Judge. He appeared to accept complaints of delay made by Jason McInerney. He did not ask the Crown for an explanation of the delay, saying that it might be required on the next occasion when the outstanding charges came be dealt with. He said that it was for the Judge on that occasion to consider what delay there had been, and to assess the case in the light of all the offending which was proved.

23. We accept the argument of the Solicitor General that, given the gravity and complexity of the total offending being investigated by the Thames Valley Police and the fact that it involved other potential defendants, no criticism attaches to the prosecution for not bringing these offences before HHJ Carroll. In any case we do not agree that the failure to deal with the offences on 2 April was an important factor justifying a reduction in the appropriate sentence.
24. As to whether Jason McInerney should receive a sentence of IPP, the judge said:

You are serving terms of imprisonment for public protection with a minimum of 8 years… That, on any view, is a long period for a young man. You received a further 6 and a half years' imprisonment in April at this court to run concurrently with those terms of imprisonment for public protection. I have considered, firstly in your case, whether the dangerousness provisions apply to you for the offence of robbery and aggravated burglary. They do not because the sentences I impose will not exceed the four year term…"

25. We cannot agree. It is rightly not disputed by Mr Mullen that the determinate term is unduly lenient.
26. In our view a sentence of IPP was inevitable. What then should be the notional determinate term to reflect punishment and deterrence? Mr Mullen argued that a notional determinate term after a full discount for plea of anything more than sixteen years would be manifestly excessive for a young man of Jason McInerney's age. We see some force in that submission but do not accept it in its entirety. The notional minimum term takes account not only of the offences for which he fell to be sentenced on 19 November with their aggravating features but also takes into account the earlier very serious offending. It would be wrong, in our view, if the offender were not required to spend some additional time in custody before being eligible for parole. In our view the appropriate notional determinate term following the Reference and taking into account double jeopardy is one of 18 years' imprisonment and thus we set the minimum term before the offender is eligible for parole as one of nine years starting from 19 November 2009.

Wayne McInerney

27. The second offender, Wayne McInerney, is 23 years of age, having been born on 8 September 1986. On 19 November 2009, he was sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment. This sentence was imposed following Wayne McInerney's guilty plea at the first opportunity and comprised the following terms for the different offences, the first two of which are the subject matter of the reference.

Count 11 Causing grievous bodily harm with intent (s.18) – 4 years

Count 32 Causing grievous bodily harm with intent (s.18) – 4 years (concurrent)

Count 33 inflicting grievous bodily harm (s.20) – 3 years (concurrent).

28. In summary, Wayne McInerney violently attacked one motorist in an unprovoked assault and then, on a separate occasion, deliberately ran over one police motorcyclist and recklessly ran over a civilian motorcyclist whilst driving a stolen vehicle and avoiding his own and his brother's arrest.
29. The facts in more detail are as follows.
30. We start with count 11 (grievous bodily harm with intent). On 26 July 2008, Kingsley Tembo was in a car park at Brookfield Retail Centre, Cheshunt. As Mr Tembo was leaving the car park he indicated to another driver that he could have his parking space. In that other car was Wayne McInerney. Wayne McInerney and a second male proceeded to exit their vehicle and repeatedly punch Mr Tembo in the face whilst he was sitting in his car. The two men then left the scene in a silver car, colliding as they did so with Mr Tembo's vehicle. Wayne McInerney was identified by Mr Tembo and an eyewitness. Mr Tembo sustained three different, complex fractures to the nose and eye area requiring extensive surgery. He has had a number of plates inserted in his skull and suffers from reduced sensation in his face and impaired vision in his right eye.
31. We turn to counts 32 and 33 (grievous bodily harm with intent and inflicting grievous bodily harm). On 27 July 2008, a day later than the attack on Mr Tembo, a police motor cycle skills day was being undertaken in Denham. At approximately 15:30 hours three motorcyclists attending the skills day were on the A40, approaching a major roundabout, when a Porsche was observed being driven badly and at speed (the Porsche had been stolen three days earlier). Wayne McInerney was inside the vehicle with his brother Jason who, as we have seen, was unlawfully at large, and another male. Wayne McInerney was driving. PC Stacey pulled in front of the Porsche to slow the vehicle down. In response, however, the Porsche accelerated, hitting PC Stacey's bike. PC Stacey and his bike were dragged underneath the Porsche and carried for 35 metres before striking the central reservation. The Porsche mounted the central reservation and continued to drive forwards for 13 metres. Another motorcyclist, Peter Lane, went to assist PC Stacey. The Porsche reversed at speed into Mr Lane, causing him to be thrown from his motorcycle. Wayne McInerney's brother Jason (as we have already said) got out of the Porsche and threatened witnesses with an axe as the vehicle continued to reverse. He caused a motorist to get out of her car, and Wayne McInerney, his brother Jason and another man escaped from the scene in it. Both motorcyclists were injured: PC Stacey escaped relatively unscathed and received only bruises; Mr Lane was severely injured, his right leg and hip were shattered, he required extensive surgery and the best estimate of his treating physicians was that it would be at least 3 months before he would walk again.
32. Wayne McInerney has eleven convictions, relating to twenty one offences:

i) 29 July 2003 – four offences of burglary or going equipped, for which he was sentenced to a 12 month Detention and training Order.

ii) 28 August 2003 – escaping from lawful custody, for which he was sentenced to a consecutive 4 month Detention and Training Order

iii) 13 September 2006 – burglary and aggravated vehicle taking, for which he was sentenced to 48 months in a Young Offenders' Institution.

iv) 2 April 2009 – three offences of burglary, prison breaking and two offences of actual bodily harm, for which he was sentenced to a total of 5 years six months in a Young Offenders' Institution (comprising 42 months for the burglaries, 2 years for prison breaking and 18 months for grievous bodily harm). In the prison breaking offence, Wayne McInerney was travelling in a prison van on 12 January 2009. His associates threatened the guards with a gun and secured his escape. He was at large for 4 days.

33. The aggravating features of the offences for which Wayne McInerney fell to be sentenced on 19 November are obvious. The attack which constituted count 11 was unprovoked, the victim was outnumbered, the victim was defenceless; and sustained significant, permanent and disabling injury. The attack which constituted counts 32 and 33 were unprovoked attacks designed to ensure that Jason McInerney was not apprehended by the police. One of the victims was a police officer. Wayne McInerney used a vehicle as a weapon and one of the victims sustained significant, permanent and disabling injury.
34. The judge in passing sentence said:

The dangerousness provisions apply to the offences for which you fall to be sentenced. I must ask myself whether the sentences, firstly, pass the four year threshold and whether, secondly, I am satisfied you pose a significant risk of serious harm to members of the public in the future by the commission of further specified offences. I stress… that this is an exercise in which I must try and assess you in the future… I have come to the conclusion on this difficult question that I am, in fact, not satisfied you pose a significant risk of serious harm to members of the public in the future when you are ultimately released. In those circumstances, the sentences will be determinate sentences.

35. He then said that he had applied the sentencing guidelines and passed the sentences to which we have referred.
36. We have no doubt that the total sentence of four years was unduly lenient. Mr Pownall submits that had the offender been sentenced earlier then he would have been entitled to a deduction under section 240 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (time on remand). He also reminds us about double jeopardy. In our view the appropriate determinate term following the Reference and taking into account Mr Pownall's submissions and the plea would be one of 12 years' imprisonment.
37. We turn to the issue of dangerousness.
38. The judge did not have the benefit of a report. We do. The officer preparing the report concluded that Wayne McInerney presents a high risk of serious harm to the public. Mr Pownall challenges a number of the assertions made by the officer in the report. To the extent to which those challenges are properly made, we do not think that they are decisive on the issue of dangerousness. Even if there had been no report we have no doubt that the offender meets the statutory criteria for dangerousness having regard to the circumstances of the offending and the previous convictions.
39. However, we shall address those challenges so that our views can be taken into account if at some later stage the report is seen as important at a time, for example, when the offender is being considered for parole.
40. We set out the challenges and our brief comments thereon in italics.

Para 2.5 The report wrongly describes Mr. Tembo as a vulnerable individual.

Mr Tembo was not a vulnerable person but he was in a vulnerable position.

Para 2.6 It is wrong to observe that the attack upon Mr. Lane was 'a premeditated decision to inflict serious bodily harm'.

Neither of the attacks could properly be described as premeditated.

The opinion at the end of the paragraph that the offender was 'lucky' not to be facing more serious charges was not an issue upon which the probation officer was invited to express an opinion.

We agree

Para 3.3 reference to a victim being bound with a pair of tights… is inconsistent with the accepted basis of plea (transcript pages 25-26)

We agree

Para 3.4 The observation that the offender appears to obtain some form of pleasure by inflicting serious harm upon his victims ... selected due to their vulnerability was inappropriate.

It seems true that the offender appears to obtain some form of sadistic pleasure from inflicting violence as evidenced by the attack on Mr Tembo.

Para 5.2 The report wrongly casts doubt on any link between the death of the offender's father and the offences. The fact that the offender did not receive bereavement counselling is not, as the report suggests, an indication that he did not suffer as a result of his father's untimely demise.

We note that the judge did say:

I have also taken into account the personal mitigation advanced on your behalf and what has been written helpfully, if I may so, and importantly about you both from Father O'Reilly (as heard) and also from others. The effect of your father's death also on you both has been a significant factor, I have no doubt. I have considered that particularly in Wayne McInerney's case when you were not allowed to see him despite having only a few days left in custody.

We have doubt whether the fact that the offender did not receive bereavement counselling is relevant.

Para 8.1 The report is wrong to suggest that the offender shows no remorse as evidenced, at least in part, by the fact that the offender has completed no offence and victim focused work and says that he does not intend to do so. The report is wrong to suggest that he pleaded guilty merely because of the situation he found himself in was unjustified and in any event the judge had before him the evidence which allowed for a different conclusion.

Whatever the reason for pleading guilty, we accept that conclusions adverse to the offender on the issue of dangerousness can properly be drawn from his refusal to complete offence and victim focused work.

41. Having concluded that the offender meets the statutory criteria of dangerousness, we ask ourselves whether an extended sentence of imprisonment should be imposed. At the expiration of six years from November 2010 would there remain a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm occasioned by the commission by him of further specified offences taking into account the licence conditions which could be imposed? We have no doubt that on the material available to us (and we stress that) the answer to that question is "Yes".
42. For these reasons we impose a sentence of IPP with a minimum term of six years concurrent on all three counts.
Annexure A-

Jason McInerney- offences committed whilst unlawfully at large for which sentenced on 19 November 2009, other than the offences the subject matter of the Reference.

Count 31 (assault occasioning actual bodily harm) –

On 6 May 2008, Dean Hobbs found the road he was driving along blocked by a BMW. Mr Hobbs sounded his horn and the car moved forward to allow him by. As he drove past Jason McInerney, who was sitting in the driver's seat, yelled abuse at Mr Hobbs. Mr Hobbs carried on but was pursued by the BMW. Jason McInerney drove into Mr Hobbs' car, then overtook it and pulled across to block his passage. Jason McInerney got out of the BMW, approached Mr Hobbs and, leaning in through the open window, stabbed Mr Hobbs to the chest with a corkscrew (fortunately he sustained only minor injuries).

Counts 4 and 5 (burglary and theft) –

On 24 July 2008 at 3pm, Nicola Murray was returning to her home at 16 Newlands Avenue, Radlett. As she approached the address she noticed her husband's Audi RS6 being driven in the opposite direction. Upon arriving home she found that a back window to her property had been broken and the car keys had been stolen. Jason McInerney's fingerprint was found on a notepad in the vehicle after it was recovered.

Count 7 (burglary) –

On 24 July 2008 at 3:30pm, police officers saw the stolen Audi RS6 in Stanmount Road, St. Albans. Jason McInerney was seen to run from a house, get into the driver's seat and then drive away. Enquiries with the occupier of the house revealed that he was an 84 year old man and that money had been stolen from him.

Counts 9 and 10 (burglary) –

On 24 July 2008 Jason McInerney broke into a house at 331 Watford Road, St. Albans. He, and another man, forced the ground floor bay window, removed the car keys to the Porsche 911, which was parked on the drive, and then stole the vehicle. Jason McInerney was captured by the Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras driving the vehicle two days later and a bag found in the boot after the vehicle was recovered had his fingerprints upon it.

Count 16 (burglary) –

On 28 July 2008, Jason McInerney broke into a house at 26 Windsor Road, Gerrards Cross. Access was gained after a rear window was broken. The property was searched but nothing taken. It appeared as if efforts had been made to find the keys to the car that was parked in the driveway. Paperwork, accidentally left behind by Jason McInerney, was connected to another stolen vehicle (a VW shuttle bus) and the keys for this vehicle were found when Jason McInerney was arrested.

Count 17 and 18 (burglary and theft) –

On 28 July 2008, Jason McInerney broke into a house at 3 Wilton Crescent, Beaconsfield. The property was entered after the dining room window was smashed and the keys to the BMW, which was parked on the driveway, were taken. Jason McInerney's accomplice then drove away in the car, whilst Jason McInerney left in a VW Shuttle Bus (see paragraph 7(f)(iii) above). An eyewitness subsequently identified Jason McInerney as the driver of the VW Shuttle Bus.

Counts 20 and 21 (burglary and theft) –

On 25/29 July 2008, Jason McInerney broke into a house on Pinncale Close, Stanmore. The property was entered after the kitchen window was smashed. The keys to a Landrover and money were stolen. This key was subsequently found in the vehicle being driven by Jason McInerney upon his arrest.

Count 23 (theft)

See count 22

Counts 24 and 25 (burglary and theft) –

On 2 August 2008, Jason McInerney broke into a house at 24 Beech Way, Gerrards Cross. The keys to a BMW 654 and a Mercedes, as well as jewellery and cash were stolen. The BMW, which was parked on the driveway, was driven away from the property. When Jason McInerney was arrested, the BMW key was found in the hotel room in which he was staying and the Mercedes key was found in the vehicle he was driving.

Counts 26 and 27 (burglary and theft) –

On 6 August 2008, Jason McInerney broke into a house at 9 Stratton Road, Beaconsfield. The keys to a Lexus SC430, as well as jewellery and electrical items, were stolen. The Lexus, which was parked on the driveway, was driven away from the property. When Jason McInerney was arrested, the Lexus key was found in the hotel room in which he was staying and the electrical items were found in the vehicle he was driving.

Count 28 (burglary) –

On 6 August 2008, Jason McInerney broke into a house on Long Grove, Seer Green. The property was entered by breaking a glass panel in the door and a number of watches were stolen. Some of the stolen property was subsequently found in the hotel room where Jason McInerney was staying upon his arrest.

Count 29 (burglary) –

On 7 August 2008, Jason McInerney broke into a house at 21 Manor Lane, Gerrards Cross. The property was entered by breaking the living room window and a number of items were stolen.

Count 30 (burglary) –

On 7 August 2008, Jason McInerney broke into a house at 14 Daleside, Gerrards Cross. The property was entered by breaking the glass in the French windows and the spare car keys, electrical items and a bank card were stolen. Some of the stolen property was subsequently found in the hotel room where Jason McInerney was staying upon his arrest on 8 August 2008.