Worcester duo jailed for auction house burglary
They stole £40,000-worth of jewellery.
Two men have been sentenced to three years for burglary following the theft of up to £40,000 of jewellery from an auction house in Welland, Malvern.
Nicholas Dutfield, 52, of Happy Land West, Worcester, and Alan Dale, 51, of Belmont Street, Worcester originally denied the charges at Kidderminster Magistrates Court in August.
They were remanded in custody for a trial at Worcester Crown Court where they eventually entered guilty pleas thanks to a strong case put forward after a complex investigation by officers in Worcester.
Dale and Dutfield were both handed a three-year custodial sentence at court on Thursday 23 November.
Detective Sergeant Kristoffer Stevens of the South Worcestershire Integrated Offender Management team said: “This was a particularly complex investigation which was dealt with swiftly and efficiently by detectives determined to bring the offenders to justice.
"Dale and Dutfield made a conscious and calculated decision to break into this premises and take what was not theirs to take for financial gain.
“The evidence in this case was never clear cut and took a lot of time, skill and patience to piece the investigation together to such a degree that the pair were then compelled to provide early guilty pleas at court leading to their three-year sentences.”