A CAREER criminal used air conditioning pipes in a hotel burglary to get to the roof as he supposedly had “inside information” about where the finance office was.

Mark Oxley, 48, of Ebor Place, Leeds, was handed a suspended sentence for the burglary of the Holiday Inn, in Bradford and traveling in a stolen vehicle on May 25 this year.

Bradford Crown Court heard Oxley has 20 previous convictions for more than 50 offences and was described as a “career criminal” by Mr Kenneth Green, for the prosecution.

But Mr Recorder Simon Myerson QC has given him a chance as a new “significant factor” – his new partner who he cares for - has entered his life.

The sentence was 15 months in prison, suspended for two years, with nine months of drug rehabilitation and 27 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days to complete.

At 3.15am on May 25, an Audi stolen two days before from a house, was spotted on CCTV arriving in the rear car park of the Holiday Inn, by a night security officer, for what the prosecution said was a targeted burglary.

The security officer witnessed two males – wearing balaclavas and gloves - leave the vehicle and use the air conditioning pipes to climb to the roof of the building, the court heard.

Mr Green said: “The two males eventually got access to the finance office of the hotel which suggests they were provided inside information.”

Police arrived and the burglars used the fire exit to escape but Oxley was caught.

Money from a safe in the finance room had been taken – amounting to £7,100.

Police searched a bushy area in the car park where Oxley was caught and found a plastic bag containing the stolen cash.

Tom Jackson, Oxley’s defence lawyer, said he was surrounded by crime in Armley and involved in bad crowds but met his new partner in August last year and moved to Morley for a fresh start.

But Oxley had an issue with his benefits which meant he ended up on less money and this caused him mental health issues.

Mr Jackson said: “Someone in Armley managed to seek him out, the sort of person he was trying to get away from.

“He contacted him about this job when he was understandably at his lowest ebb.”

Mr Myerson said Oxley had been given a number of chances by the courts in the past but that this could be his last one.

He added: “If you can’t deal with it now, you will die in prison because that’s what happens to middle-aged people, you know as well as I do, in prison.”