Theft-spree addict raided 7 churches
Sep 5 2008 by Hilary Clixby, The Journal
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Tracey Howitt targeted seven churches, a hairdressing salon, an office and several homes in a two-month crime spree while she was living rough.
The 48-year-old also admitted being a passenger in a van driven onto the East Coast Main Line by her then partner as they tried to shake off a police chase .
Howitt broke into St Peter’s Church in Craster in May this year after forcing the doors, moving pews and searching the building looking for items to steal, Newcastle Crown Court was told.
A week later she raided Hair and Sun hairdressers in Alnwick, fleeing with an air ambulance charity box and £100 cash from the till after forcing a rear window.
Howitt admitted both burglaries and a third raid the previous month at a detached house in Stakeford when she stole a laptop computer, cigarettes, brandy and whisky.
She also asked the court to take more than 20 other offences into consideration, including raids on St John the Baptist at Alnmouth, All Saints Parish Church in Rothbury, St Aidan’s Church at Bamburgh, the Church of Christ in Broomhill and the Wesleyan Reform Church in Guidepost, which she broke into twice.
She mainly stole money from collection boxes, but her plunder also included silverware and a keyboard.
Howitt, who has 54 previous offences on her record, also pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting dangerous driving by being a passenger in a transit van driven by William Johnson onto the East Coast Main Line in a bid to shake off pursuing police in May.
She was seen throwing items from the vehicle during the high-speed chase, causing officers to swerve. The pursuit finally ended when Johnson turned onto the main railway line in the village of Longhirst, and drove along the track for 30 metres before the van became stuck in gravel.
Howitt had owned the van, which was uninsured, and admitted giving 42-year-old Johnson, of no fixed address, permission to drive it. Johnson was jailed for two years last month after a judge said the consequences of driving onto the track were potentially horrendous.
The court heard all the offences were committed at a time when she was living rough – either outdoors or in her van – and were carried out to feed her long-term drug habit.
Recorder Christopher Batty sentenced Howitt, of no fixed address, to an 18-month community order with supervision and a drug rehabilitation requirement and warned her it was a direct alternative to jail.
