A BURGLAR who was a scourge of small businesses has been jailed for a series of shop raids in Ryedale and York.

Robert Lee Curr, 29, targeted shops and other commercial premises in his night burglaries in Malton, Pickering and York because they were small and vulnerable, said prosecutor Alan Mitcheson at York Crown Court.

Curr looked for shops with windows that were not overlooked and broke them to get inside. Police tracked him down for the York raid because he cut himself and left bloodstains.

Although his 15 raids netted hundreds rather than thousands of pounds, he caused considerable nuisance to the shop owners.

“I have to take account of the impact of your burglaries in a relatively small area,” said the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst.

“Many of the people who are struggling to run businesses in the towns of Malton and Pickering are running on very small margins and some of them are not making a profit at all.”

They could not afford the “lavish security” of bigger businesses and often had to repair the damage Curr made from their own pockets.

Curr, of Wheelgate, Malton, pleaded guilty to burgling Fine Food Theatre, Malton, between March 20 and April 1; Castlegate Taberna, Pickering, between 30 May and June 3; and Monk Bar Chocolatiers in Goodramgate, York, between April 16 and April 19. He asked for 12 more offences in the Malton and Pickering area to be taken into consideration.

He was jailed for 18 months. He has several previous convictions for shop raids.

Mitigating, Patricia Doherty said Curr carried out the burglaries because he was desperate for cash to pay off debts.

The judge told Curr: “You are not the only person in the present climate who is finding it difficult to make ends meet and most people do not go out in the middle of the night and commit burglaries.”

The York raid occurred after he argued with his girlfriend and walked from Malton to the city.

Needing money to get back to Malton, he broke into the chocolate shop.

He wanted to apologise to his victims. Mrs Doherty said Curr’s girlfriend was expecting their first child in February.