The moment a burglar snuck into a pensioner's flat while she slept was caught on a Ring camera.
John Donakey, 57, from St Helens appeared in Carlisle Crown Court on Thursday, September 22, after pleading guilty to nine counts of burglary and one count of going equipped for burglary. The court heard how the 57-year-old used the same methods as he travelled from his home 100 miles away to commit a string of crimes several years apart.
Prosecutor Kim Whittlestone said: “He has access to a car and is equipped with items such as disposable gloves, socks and screwdrivers; and carries, in the latter set of offences, a Marks & Spencer picnic bag. He targets areas and properties where there are particularly vulnerable and elderly occupants.
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“He is bold enough to revisit the same streets and the same properties over a course of days, clearly seeing some of his victims as easy targets.”
Donakey — a previously convicted burglar whose first break-in occurred back in 1978 aged just 13 — was disturbed by occupants after sneaking into two Kendal homes a week apart in July, 2018. Then on October 14, 2020, he entered a house in Folly Lane, Penrith, while an elderly occupant’s son was cooking in the kitchen.
He was using a knife to prepare food, heard a noise and found Donakey in a bedroom.
Ms Whittlestone said: “There was a struggle with the owner and he cut his hand on the knife. The defendant left the property. The police were called and the defendant subsequently identified by his DNA."
Then came more Penrith offences in late June, 2022. Carrying the M&S bag, he entered the Croft Avenue address of a frail elderly man but was challenged and left. Three days later he stole binoculars from a property on nearby Maple Drive.
In between times, Donakey entered other homes at Maple Drive and Clifford Road. At one address, a very elderly dementia sufferer was asleep in an armchair. Her niece was watching from Cheshire on CCTV as Donakey rifled through drawers, and raised the alarm.
The prosecutor said: "The police arrived. Thankfully the owner had not been disturbed."
At the other property, Donakey was described as “smiling and confident” while engaging a vulnerable woman recovering from spinal surgery in conversation after entering uninvited. Police spotted Donakey, of Bexhill Gardens, St Helens, on a host of Ring doorbell CCTV recordings they viewed in the aftermath as part of their investigation.
Loot, including binoculars and jewellery and an RAF medal whose owner remains unknown, was found in his car. Donakey admitted nine burglary charges and one count of going equipped for burglary.
In statements, victims described the profound impact of his crimes, of feeling anxious and being “constantly on edge”. One called Donakey an “awful man”.
The niece who watched Donakey carry out the crime said her aunt was left feeling, in her words, “very shaky and wibbly-wobbly”. The auntie said: "It has really knocked my confidence, I’m really worried and scared it might happen again. I feel I can’t trust anyone anymore."
Her niece added: "She was really scared by what he might have done when he was standing over her had she not woken up. It has had a real negative impact on her confidence and mental health."
Dad-of-four Donakey was caught in the grip of a gambling addiction he concealed from his partner having used betting shop fixed odds terminals daily.
John Rowan, defending, said: “He started spending the family money on gambling, was unable to pay the rent and feed or clothe his children. He was digging himself a bigger and bigger hole, borrowing money (from loan sharks) and gambling that money.
"He was stealing or in people’s property to steal in order to deal with the financial pressure he had at that time. He is absolutely ashamed of himself, as he should be. He is disgusted by his actions.”
Jailing Donakey for four years, Judge Simon Medland KC said he had exhibited a “casual confidence” while carrying out his crimes.
The judge said: “These were mean offences, cruel offences and greedy offences, aggravated by the vulnerability of your victims who you must have targeted in order to take advantage of that."
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