Greenwich burglar jailed for two years

Lee Dwyer-Clark has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for a burglary that occurred on Devonshire Drive in Greenwich. The incident took place on June 7, when the homeowner was alerted to the intrusion by his dog's barking in the early hours of the morning.

Upon investigating the disturbance, the homeowner noticed several coats missing from a rack and saw the lights of his Volkswagen van flashing outside. Police were called to the scene and found Dwyer-Clark in the driver's seat of the van, which was still parked at the property. He initially claimed the van belonged to a friend, but this was found to be untrue.

Drug Influence and Previous Convictions

During police interviews, Dwyer-Clark stated he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the burglary and suggested he might have been forced to commit the offence by someone else, though he could not provide any names. Court documents reveal he has 14 previous convictions for a total of 37 offences, including theft and carrying a knife. He had also received a suspended sentence last November for handling stolen goods.

Defending, Brian Richardson, indicated that unfortunate circumstances had led to the offence, citing Dwyer-Clark's struggles to obtain medication for his heroin dependency after missing an appointment with a drugs intervention service. He described his client as being in a 'desperate state' in the days before the burglary.

However, Judge Ben Gumpert KC rejected these explanations as significant mitigation. He imposed a two-year sentence for the burglary and activated five months of Dwyer-Clark's previously suspended sentence.