A professional housebreaker, who had already committed a string of burglaries in England, was jailed for three-and-a-half years yesterday for cross-Border raids on secluded country houses.
One of the mansions targeted by Grant Curley belonged to the Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire where he plundered #50,000 worth of valuables. Curley, 41, of Murton, near Sunderland, County Durham, went on trial at Jedburgh Sheriff Court charged with breaking into Kimmerghame House, near Duns, occupied by General Sir John Swinton and stealing ornaments, swords, silverware, and medals, as well as a sporran and a bottle of whisky on April 8 last year.
A co-accused, Philip McGinty, pled guilty earlier to the charge and was jailed for three years.
Curley was also charged with breaking into Hallydown House, Eyemouth, on April 17 and stealing silverware, jewellery, and goods valued at #10,000.
The jury heard that Sir John and his wife were asleep upstairs at Kimmerghame when Curley and McGinty broke in late at night. Their getaway car crashed as police closed in but Curley escaped to strike again nine days later at Hallydown House.
This time he cut himself during the break-in and his blood helped police track him down. At the trial, he claimed he had been ''fitted-up'' by police. He also claimed he had been at home with his wife at the time of both offences.
After the jury took 25 minutes to convict Curley earlier this month, Sheriff Andrew Lothian sent the case to the High Court in Edinburgh because he regarded his maximum sentencing power of three years as inadequate.
Yesterday, at the High Court in Edinburgh, Mr Alan Dewar, advocate-depute, said that after the getaway car crashed a substantial amount of the property in the first charge had been recovered. There had been no recovery of the items stolen in the second break-in.
The sheriff had sent the case to the High Court because of the value of the property and the previous history of the accused who had been convicted of 53 charges of house-breaking or similar offences. Also, Curley had returned from England to commit the second offence within a matter of days of the first, targeting substantial properties in relatively secluded settings.
Sheriff Lothian had also noted that during the course of the trial it had been put to no less than six police officers that they had been involved in a conspiracy to manufacture evidence against Curley.
Mr Derek Ogg, defence counsel, told the court his client had been suffering from depression and anxiety for two years as a result of which he had been signed off work. His last conviction for a similar offence was in 1994.
He pointed out that the co-accused, McGinty, had a serious criminal record including sentences of seven years and 10 years for robbery.
Lord Cullen, the Lord Justice Clerk, said that, although Curley had been convicted of serious charges, he had to ensure that comparative justice was achieved and McGinty, who had been jailed for three years, had a much more serious record.
''In these circumstances, while I consider that the sheriff acted correctly in remitting the case, I do not consider I would be justified in going far beyond what is appropriate as a sheriff court sentence.''
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