Divorced mum-of-three 'on downward spiral' raided nurse's home after rekindling romance with childhood sweetheart

Weavers Brook, Cumberland Close, where the burglary took place
-Credit: (Image: Google Maps)


A pair of childhood sweethearts covered a CCTV camera with underwear as they burgled a hard-working nurse's home.

Tina Dunkley, 42, and her then-boyfriend and first-time boyfriend Aaron Fleming, had spotted the woman as she was leaving for work when they sat in the communal hallway of a block of flats in Halifax.

The pair, Bradford Crown Court heard on Wednesday, were "squatting" and were using a plug in the area to charge their phones. However, when the woman left the building, they forced their way into her home, making at least four trips in and out, taking the nurse's belongings with them.

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Prosecutor Fen Greatley-Hirsch said the burglary, committed on December 27 last year, was the second offence they had committed within a month. They had also stolen £775 worth of styling items from a Sally's Salon on November 21. Mr Greatly-Hirsch said Dunkley had distracted a sales assistant while Fleming put the items into a basket.

Once he had finished, he shouted "let's go" and the pair fled. In relation to the burglary in Weavers Brook, Cumberland Close, Halifax, the prosecutor said the woman had arrived home with shopping and had seen Dunkley and Fleming but left later that night to go to work.

He said: "They remained in the vicinity and loitered in the hallway. CCTV shows him knocking on the door to make sure no one else is inside. He gains entry and attempted to cover the CCTV camera with a glove. The cameras are protected by a kind of metal cage.

"Over the course of the night, they came and left the property at least four times, during which they ferried various items away. Between the trips they repeatedly tried to cover the camera and put various items of underwear over it."

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The court heard the woman returned at 7.40am and as she was parking her car could see through her window the front door to her flat was open. Mr Greatley-Hirsch said she found her flat had been "ransacked." There were clothes on the floor, a suitcase had been upended, the fridge left open and a large kitchen knife had been left on her bed.

Fleming and Dunkley had taken items including clothing, shoes, perfume, skincare and bags. They were both identified and denied their offending but went on to plead guilty to shop theft and dwelling burglary. Fleming has already been sentenced, but Dunkley faced the court on Wednesday.

Her barrister, Mark Phillips said she had been a successful business owner until the Covid-19 pandemic. The mother-of-three had also split with her husband, and at the time of the offending, "her life was in a downward spiral".

Bradford Crown Court
Bradford Crown Court -Credit:Yorkshire Live

Mr Phillips said: "She came under a lot of mental and emotional strain and started using drugs. She met her co-accused, who had been her first boyfriend and that relationship rekindled. She had gone from living in a normal home to on the street. She was going through this difficult time and, in my respectful submission, he didn't try and help her, he made use of her and used her as a bank and there are records of her making complaints to the police about incidents of assault, abuse and she had received injuries, but unsurprisingly, women in this position don't always continue to support the police and no convictions came.

"She was coerced to commit the offences... She is no longer using drugs. She is remorseful for her actions. She had difficulty in admitting her part because she couldn't believe that she got involved in this. Her criminal career started at 42, which is an unusual age for somebody of her background and position in life."

Her Honour Judge Watson made Dunkley the subject of a two-year suspended sentence.