A MAN has been jailed for two years after stealing cash and boxes of Star Wars Lego from a Boscombe store.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard Eye Dream Pictures owner Bob Cosford discovered the break-in at his store in the Royal Arcade on March 1 this year.

Prosecutor Simon Edwards said the burglar, Gary Clarke, 45, pictured, had cut himself breaking a window in the rear door, leaving blood around the interior which led to his eventual identification via DNA matching.

He had made off with a cashbox containing £100, a computer hard drive full of valuable art, and some 25 boxes of Lego.

“He has a large number of previous convictions, in fact some 109 offences, and he has appeared before court on 38 occasions,” said Mr Edwards.

The court heard Clarke, who refused to leave his prison cell in Winchester to attend the hearing, was under three suspended sentence orders worth a cumulative 21 days imprisonment at the time he carried out the offence, as well as a conditional discharge for breaching an ASBO.

In mitigation, Rufus Taylor said his client had “just wanted to go back into custody”.

He said there had been a 10 year gap in Clarke’s offending between his imprisonment for four years in 2004 and 2014, when he embarked upon a spree of shoplifting.

“He had a job, he was in a relationship, he had a daughter, he had a home.

“Then in 2014 he lost his job, he relapsed into heroin and crack cocaine which led to a breakdown of his relationship,” said Mr Taylor.

“He is ashamed he committed another burglary.

“He hoped even after starting to reoffend he would refrain from burglary. This is a man at a low ebb committing a dwelling burglary to get back into custody.”

Clarke, of Wolverton Road, Bournemouth, admitted one count of burglary.

Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Fuller QC said the probation report in which Clarke told officers his life was “spiralling out of control” made “unhappy reading”.

“He feels disappointed that he has gone back to burglary, that is all well and good,” he said.

“But that was preceded by a failure to take the assistance that had been offered to him.”

Detective Constable Christian Bryant, of Dorset Police, said: “I hope that this sentence sends out a message that crimes such as this targeting business will not be tolerated.

“I would also like to urge members of the business community to review their security measures and ensure that where possible cash and other valuable items are not kept in the premises overnight.

“Often by taking simple crime prevention steps businesses can reduce their chances of becoming victims of opportunistic thieves such as Clarke.”