Burglar jailed for night of raids at city venues

Police said Sean Hood's "guard slipped and he made some mistakes which made our job much easier"

An "extremely brazen" burglar has been jailed for 18 months for early morning raids on two city centre pubs and a cafe.

Sean Hood, 35, broke into the Brewery Tap, College Arms and Chalkboard Cafe in Peterborough on 13 September 2022.

He used an axe to smash through doors and force tills open.

Hood, of Viersen Platz in the city, pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and possession of a bladed weapon at Peterborough Crown Court.

Hood dropped a rucksack during his raid at the Brewery Tap, next to Queensgate's multi-storey carpark

The 35-year-old was accompanied by Adele Machin, 45, and an unknown man when he broke into the businesses, according to Cambridgeshire Police.

Hood was caught on CCTV wearing a ski mask and using an axe to smash the glass doors at the Brewery Tap, behind the Queensgate shopping centre on Westgate, at 03:00 BST, while Machin acted as lookout.

He dropped a rucksack while checking the tills and made off with the cash float.

Later the trio returned, officers believe to retrieve the rucksack, but Hood and Machin failed to cover their faces, so were caught on CCTV.

The two men then broke into the other two premises, with Machin again remaining outside.

The pair were arrested a few hours later.

Hood and Machin followed up their raid on the Brewery Tap with a trip to the College Arms on Broadway

Det Con Pete Wise said: "Hood was extremely brazen in his actions.

"Although he tried to conceal his identity initially, his guard slipped and he made some mistakes which made our job much easier in securing evidence."

Machin, of Oundle Road, Woodston, Peterborough, received a one year sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting three counts of burglary at the pubs, and three further counts of theft from shops including Boots and B&M on different occasions.

However, she was jailed for two months and disqualified from driving for three years after a collision on Park Road, Peterborough, on 12 December 2021.

She admitted driving without due care and attention, failing to stop after a road accident, failing to report an accident, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.