Kettering thief told his victim he was just having a wee

He's been jailed
Ricky Macrae.Ricky Macrae.
Ricky Macrae.

A thief told a man he was just having a wee when he was asked why he was lurking near his car in Kettering - before smashing its window to steal a wallet.

Ricky Macrae, 39, was jailed at Northampton Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday) after targeting lawyer Adam Cresswell's car October 12.

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Mr Cresswell, a director at law firm Seatons, had parked his Audi at the rear of their Market Street branch and went outside for a break at about 4.30pm.

The damage caused to Mr Cresswell's car.The damage caused to Mr Cresswell's car.
The damage caused to Mr Cresswell's car.

He saw Macrae, formerly of Manor Road in Rothwell, hanging about his car in the secure area and challenged him, asking him what he was doing.

"Having a p*** mate," Macrae replied.

Mr Cresswell told him to go elsewhere - but later that afternoon realised he had been the victim of Macrae's crimes.

Prosecuting, James Armstrong-Holmes told the court: "When he left work he went straight out to his car and realised his car window had been smashed.

The damage caused to Mr Cresswell's car.The damage caused to Mr Cresswell's car.
The damage caused to Mr Cresswell's car.

"The wallet which was left in the car was stolen."

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Two dents on the top of the door suggested Macrae had also tried to force it open. He was seen on CCTV leaving the scene of the crime before he tried to use one of Mr Cresswell's bank cards at a shop in Field Street.

Five days later a second victim returned to her home in Rothwell and realised she had been burgled when she went upstairs at about 4pm.

Among the items stolen was a wallet with debit cards and cash in.

Her stolen card was used by Macrae that day in Booze 4 Less in Montagu Street, Kettering, at 2.24pm for a transaction of £16.19. Two minutes later in Braces News just down the road it was used for a £24 purchase.

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Later that afternoon Macrae, who appeared at court over videolink from HMP Peterborough, tried to buy goods from another shop - but failed because the victim had cancelled her cards.

He was later arrested and admitted theft and three counts of fraud. A separate charge of burglary was dropped.

The court heard he had an "extensive" list of previous convictions including for dishonesty, burglary, theft and robbery, and had previously been jailed for six-and-a-half years in 2017.

Mitigating, Liam Muir urged His Honour Judge David Herbert QC to reduce the sentence from the starting point of 12 months.

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Judge Herbert told Macrae his offending was so serious he could only be sentenced to prison - and told him he would serve half of a nine month sentence behind bars.

Speaking after the sentencing hearing Mr Cresswell told the Northants Telegraph the state's money would be better spent putting Macrae onto "programmes, rehab and forcing him into work rather than locking him up for another meaningless term that will not help either him or potential future victims".