A FATHER of four has been jailed for 15 months for his role in a targeted £32,000 theft from a lorry parked outside Bradford’s Euroway Industrial Estate.

Jamie Barker, 35, of Broom Gardens, Belle Isle, Leeds, and three other men wore high visibility vests to unload boxes of luxury conditioner from the vehicle on Wharfedale Road while the driver was asleep in the cab, Bradford Crown Court heard.

The police were quickly on the scene just after midnight on December 14, 2021, and all four were apprehended, the Crown prosecutor said.

Richard Lawn, 39, of Balm Place, Holbeck, Leeds; Jacob Cross, 28, of Throstle Terrace, Middleton, Leeds; and Ellis Burgham, 21, of Gilpin Terrace, Upper Wortley, Leeds, all pleaded guilty to theft and were sentenced in May. Barker, however, did not attend the sentencing.

The court heard it was a targeted and well-planned group attack using a stolen van.

Judge Sophie McKone said the lorry driver could have woken at any moment and been confronted by the thieves.

The Crown prosecutor said: "The defendants were seen moving boxes from the lorry to the van. When the police arrived, Barker was found on a nearby banking and arrested."

His defence barrister asked Judge McKone for a suspended sentence for client, saying Barker was a father of four children who had "turned his life around" since this incident.

He said: "He had no involvement in the planning of this. He was asked shortly before to assist and he did because he had no money.

"He made the wrong choice, a choice he now has to live with the consequences.

"He has turned around his life and remained out of trouble.

"His life is now settled and he has four children."

Judge McKone heard that Barker had 11 convictions for 35 offences between 2012 and 2020, including previous offences of failure to surrender.

"This was a well-planned theft of high-value goods," she said. 

"You played a significant role to steal luxury goods.

"You've had four offences of dishonesty. You should have attended court last year and you didn't and you should have attended the sentencing in May and you didn't.

"You made a deliberate attempt to evade or delay justice, so I'm going to sentence you to 13 months in prison for theft with two consecutive months for failure to surrender. You will also have to pay a statutory surcharge."