Two burglars who travelled from Brighton to Ramsgate to steal from a family home while the terrified residents fled upstairs have been jailed.
On Wednesday 23 April Harry Grassi and Gary McCarten travelled to Queensgate Road in Ramsgate. When they arrived, they covered their faces with balaclavas before kicking the front door in and entering the residence.
The terrified victims fled to a room upstairs while the men searched the ground floor. McCarten then forced his way into the room where they were hiding. After several minutes the men left with a safe, two sets of car keys, a purse and passports.
Officers arrived at the property, but the men had already left.
ANPR research showed the suspect’s vehicle travelling back to Brighton and the abandoned car was found on a residential street. Forensic examinations found DNA from both Grassi and McCarten in the car.
On 22 May, McCarten was arrested followed by Grassi on the 10 June.
Gary McCarten, 36, of no fixed address, was charged with burglary and theft with violence and was sentenced to three years nine months imprisonment. Harry Grassi, 26, of no fixed address, was charged with burglary and theft with no violence and was sentenced to one year ten months imprisonment.
Both had pleaded guilty to the offences and were sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday 11 September.
Investigating officer, DC Martin Aird said: “McCarten and Grassi caused immeasurable heartache for the family involved in this crime and left them feeling unsafe in their own home.
“We were able to track the offenders out of county and used sophisticated forensic and tracking techniques to bring them to justice.”
Very light sentences. If only they’d expressed a strong opinion online too, the stretch would have been doubled!
McCarten’s been committing crime since he was at least 16 years old. This sentence will be like a home from home for him.
I hope next time they break into the judges house you can bet he will give them a mush longer sentence. They should have got at least 10 years each.
Even the detective said the family had experienced “immeasurable heartache” so the only people being punished here are the victims. One will be out in less than a yea, the other, less than two and where is the ‘rehabilitation’ in all this? let alone a deterrent…….huge sigh.