Crook stole car after forcing his way into family's home as children slept

A serial car thief forced his way into a family's house as they slept before stealing their car and crashing it. He also stole and used their credit card but has been spared jail because of how long it took for him to be charged over the offences.

Scott Hanlon, 26, took the keys to the couple's Skoda Octavia and stole their credit card during a burglary back in 2020 before crashing it. The crime occurred while they and their children were asleep.

Hanlon, of Old Hill Crescent in Falmouth, appeared at Truro Crown Court on Thursday (July 4) for sentence having pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated vehicle taking and one of burglary dwelling and theft.

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Prosecuting the case, Althea Brooks said the burglary occurred on May 11, 2020, in Liskeard where the victim was at home, asleep as were his wife and children. The victim heard an engine start up at around 5am and assumed it was a neighbour's car and thought nothing more of it.

When he set off for the shops in the morning he found their car was missing. It had been parked on their driveaway right next to their garage when they went to bed the previous night.

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The court heard Hanlon entered the garage through a window on the latch and took the spare set of keys to the vehicle. The car was reported missing immediately and the victim's wife soon noticed a transaction on their credit card.

Hanlon used the card at a store in Redruth. The vehicle was found parked and locked two days later in Truro and had damage to the front driver's side. £140 cash and a credit card were found in the vehicle. Hanlon had spent £29.49 on the card before it was cancelled by the cardholder immediately.

Ms Brooks said Hanlon has a "significant record" already with 39 convictions for 86 offences dominated by several aggravated vehicle taking in recent years. It also includes previous dwelling burglaries.

Asked by His Honour Judge Simon Carr why it took three years for this case to reach court, she said there was "a great deal of investigation" in relation to a co-defendant who still has a warrant out for his arrest and has not been located. However, she said that was not justification enough for the delay.

Defending, Ramsay Quaife said Hanlon's mitigation was that it took two and a half years to get to the point of being charged and longer to the point of prosecution. He added that at the time Hanlon was addicted to drugs and alcohol but since then was a "changed man" and had motivating factors in his life to stay out of trouble.

In his sentencing remarks, His Honour Judge Simon Carr told the court that simply if it takes the prosecution that long to get to court, a defendant should not be imprisoned.

He sentenced Hanlon to 15 months suspended for two years saying he would have been jailed for "many years" had his case reached court in a more timely manner. Hanlon was also made subject to a community order and will need to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.