Couple Who Burgled Dental Lab Jailed
A couple who burgled a dental laboratory and the home of an elderly woman have been jailed.
Ashley Griffiths and Maxine Sellars were so high on drink and drugs when they committed the robberies that they left footprints at the scene and were easily identified by police investigating the burglaries.
Griffiths, 26 and Sellars, 37, both from Cheltenham, admitted that they were guilty of ransacking Hallam Dental Company on November 24th 2011 and Sellars also admitted to breaking into an elderly woman’s home in the early hours of the same morning and taking her possessions, including a handbag and cash, while the lady lay terrified on the sofa.
Lisa Hennessy, prosecuting, described how the elderly woman had been absolutely terrified after Sellars broke into her home and took two handbags and £125 in cash Later that day, at 4:30am, Robert Hallam, owner of Hallam Dental Company, arrived at work to find that the lab had been completely ransacked and a number of items were missing, including two laptops, an iPod, cheque books and a car key.
It was also revealed in court that Sellars had tried to cash a cheque for £500 using the practice cheque books; however, the owner of the shop was suspicious and contacted police. When police arrived at the dental lab, Sellars had left identification documents lying around and the couple’s footprints were also clearly visible.
Maxine Sellars wept as the judge at Gloucester Crown Court read out her sentence; she has been ordered to spend 22 months is jail after admitting to theft and a further charge of fraud in addition to breaching a community order and conditional discharge. Griffiths, who had a previous conviction for burglary, was jailed for 12 months.
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