'Despicable' criminal stole cash from charities and threatened with a shard of glass

A drug addict used a screwdriver and a shovel to rob a charity and threatened to plunge a shard of glass into a man's throat. David Kevin Miller robbed two charities within a few days of each other to fund his addiction, it was heard at Truro Crown Court today (Wednesday, November 20).

On January 23 this year, he and another unidentified male broke into the Wheal Martyn Clay Works in St Austell and forced the door open using a screwdriver and a shovel. Inside, they damaged a heritage statue and stole a donation jar containing between £50 and £100. The pair also searched for cash and other valuables and, for some unknown reason, left a freezer door open, which caused the contents to spoil.

Miller, who has 29 convictions for 82 offences dating from 1993 to 2024 including for burglary of dwellings and non-dwellings and theft, was identified by the CCTV at Wheal Martyn. He was arrested and interviewed by police. While on police bail, on January 31 he broke into the Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change charity in High Cross Street. He again made off with a cash box and stole two laptop computers.

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He was identified by police from the CCTV from the charity's radio station and again was arrested. He was charged in connection with the two offences and received a 20-week suspended sentence at magistrates court having pleaded guilty. That sentence was later activated following another offence, and days after his release from prison, he robbed a man involved in the drug trade with another man.

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At today's sentencing, it was heard how, on May 18, Miller attacked his dealer in the hallway outside his home in St Austell, hit him with a glass bottle and again another five times after he had fallen to the floor until the bottle smashed. He then put a shard of glass to his throat and threatened him that "the shard would go into his neck if he moved".

Miller eventually made off with an iPhone, Nike trainers and £100 in cash. His Honour Judge Robert Linford said Miller's victim was involved in drug dealing.

Miller's barrister told the court that the 47-year-old, of no fixed abode, who pleaded guilty to one charge of robbery at a previous hearing, expected to be jailed. She said that he had grown up surrounded by drugs and his parents, who were addicts, put more value on scoring heroin than on looking after him and his two siblings.

"His home life was chaotic," she said. "He was exposed to things no child should be exposed to. Children were not as important as drugs for his parents. By 13 he was using drugs too. It was then that the three children were taken into care. It's not an excuse for his behaviour but it explains how he got to this position. He had no role model to show him how to function in society."

Miller's barrister said that by the age of 35 he had a normal life away from drugs with a partner and four children and worked as a chef in St Ives. For six years, the couple led a normal life, but when his partner had a breakdown and could no longer cope, he went back to using drugs again and the four children were taken into the foster care system.

She told the court that he became clean after a period of abstinence in prison but fell off the wagon once more when he moved to Bodmin.

"He hopes to use his time in prison to get clean," she added. "He has therapy with a psychologist and he's willing to reflect on his offending. He is looking to move back to the Blackpool area when he's released."

Judge Linford told Miller that stealing from charities was a "mean and despicable thing to do". He said Miller's victim may have been a drug dealer who told the trial "a dogeared pack of lies" but he still robbed him and attacked him.

Sentencing Miller to five years in prison, Judge Linford said: "You robbed him. You struck him with a bottle and held a shard of glass to his throat. You have an appalling list of previous convictions. You are a career criminal. You had a miserable childhood and escaped that deprived childhood by turning to drugs. This has been the root cause of your offending over the years. You had a family but you lost them to your drug use.

"I note how you are making the most of your time in prison and doing everything right and I hope that when you are released your life takes a different turn."

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