Ramsgate burglar Richard Line jailed for Minster house raid

JAILED: Richard Line

A Thanet burglar has been jailed for more than five years after he was caught with stolen jewellery hidden in his glove moments after stealing it.

Police on patrol in Minster during November 27 stopped to speak to Richard Line by the railway platform and noticed he only had one glove. The other glove was spotted on the ground nearby.

The dropped glove contained gold jewellery. A watch was then found discarded close by.

The officers then walked the main route through the village and in a bin near the public toilets they recovered an iPad.

Through enquiries in the village, officers were able to identify two people pictured on the iPad’s screen and moments later the computer tablet had been returned to the victim who had just arrived home.

As the victim opened his front door, he discovered his property in Tothill Street had been burgled.

The watch and jewellery were identified as some of the items stolen during the burglary.

A small crowbar used as a tool to break into the house was found during a search of the area and enquiries with the store it had been bought from linked it back to Line.

Line, 53, of Hereson Road, Ramsgate, was charged with one count of burglary which he admitted in court.

He was sentenced to five years and three months at Canterbury Crown Court today (January 24).

Investigating officer PC Mike Kingwell said: “We think Line had seen officers patrolling the village and had scattered the stolen goods so he wasn’t found with anything incriminating. However, they merely acted like a trail of breadcrumbs to help link him to the burgled property and he was arrested within about an hour of carrying out the burglary.

“Being a victim of burglary can be an anxious time, so we are pleased we were able to reunite the stolen goods to the victims so quickly.”

3 Comments

  1. Ann well said I thought he must have done more crimes than that one as sentence seemed long in this day of light sentences handed out for a burglary. You must know the man for a habitual thief its not long and it’s rare anyone gets there property back so quickly well done to the police for being in the right place at the right time. For some people any length of sentence is no deterrent to doing crime when he gets out in about 1/2 the time he will be doing it all over again.

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