Bill Bailey Tour Bus Thief Jailed
A man's been jailed for stealing comedian Bill Bailey's tour bus in Liverpool.
A man who stole comedian Bill Bailey’s tour bus in Liverpool has been jailed for two years.
Francis Whittaker brazenly stole the keys to the star’s leased Mercedes Sprinter van and an Apple laptop from a room in the Philharmonic Hall in Hope Street in October.
Bailey was performing at the theatre that night as part of his Limboland tour.
One of his assistants found the door to the locked room was open and discovered that the van, which contained £2,400 worth of Bill Bailey’s merchandise and personal property had gone.
Prosecuters told Liverpool Crown Court CCTV footage showed two men entering the building through an insecure fire door and a few minutes later 35-year-old Whittaker was seen leaving and driving off in the van.
It was found the next month in Tuebrook with false number plates - afterwards, Bailey tweeted his thanks to the police and people of Liverpool and promised to be back in May.
Whittaker, of The Lynxway, West Derby, was arrested a week later. He was on bail at the time for public disorder offences and two months earlier, along with two other men, had stolen keys to a £17,000 Vauxhall van at the Hilton Hotel in Liverpool and made off with it.
The vehicle, which belonged to a flooring contractor working at the hotel, contained £12,000 worth of tools and also keys to his Audi car. Some days later the owner, Gerard McKeever was in bed at home and awoke to find the same three men attempting to unlock his Audi. They left the scene after he shouted from his bedroom window.
Jailing Whittaker, who has 42 previous convictions for 84 offences, Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said, “It is often easy to forget the inconvenience, pain and chaos you inflict on those who are victims of your crimes.”
The judge said that the theft involving the tour bus had also doubtless caused chaos to those involved. “There seems to have been a level of planning and an element of targeting and you were part of a group.”
Whittaker pleaded guilty to burglary and theft on October 26 and theft on August 17.
Charlotte Pringle, defending, said that Whittaker had had drug and alcohol issues for many years and that had been a main ingredient in his offending. He has tried to address them but has failed to succeed.