Homeless burglar behind bars after spate of thefts

Lee Michael Sharp, 30, was sentenced to 43 months imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court after being found guilty of two burglaries, the theft of a car and assault.

The first offence took place in the early hours of November 1 last year when a 24-year-old man woke in his property on Concorde Street, Leeds to find Sharp in his bedroom.

Sharp asked ‘who the **** are you?’ to which the victim replied ‘This is my house’.

The victim was threatened and taken round his home as items were taken including a laptop, games console, digital camera, iPod and mobile phone. Sharp then left, locking the victim inside.

Five days later a 36-year-old woman, who lives in the same apartment block on Concorde Street as the first victim, discovered her Audi TT car was missing from the underground garage.

Around half an hour after the vehicle was taken a 26-year-old woman was arriving for work at St James’s Hospital when an Audi TT pulled up alongside her as she took her bag out of the boot.

She turned round to see Sharp taking her bag. A struggle ensued in which the victim and her female friend wrestled with Sharp, who threatened them with a rusty crowbar before making off with the bag.

When Sharp was arrested on the November 9 from an address on Scargill Grange, Burmantofts, Leeds, keys to the Audi TT were recovered along with a driving licence, employment ID and bank card belonging to the victim who had been assaulted when her bag was stolen as she arrived for work at St James’s Hospital.

The Audi TT had earlier been found by police in Chapeltown, Leeds, without its wheels. It is believed Sharp had obtained the car keys after the partner of the second victim had lost his keys in the apartment block as he left for work.

Sharp, who has no fixed address but is known to frequent the Harehills and Seacroft areas of Leeds, was on court bail for a burglary at a property on New York Road in Leeds on September 27 last year when the latest series of incidents took place.