Cousins caught after spate of botched burglaries and vehicle break-ins on Hartlepool estate

Two criminals were caught red-handed trying to burgle people’s homes and vehicles in the early hours of the morning on a Hartlepool estate.
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Dwane Bates, 30, and his 18-year-old cousin Ethan Keenan were captured on homeowners’ CCTV trying a number of front doors and interfering with vehicles on Bishop Cuthbert.

They were seen prowling around Silverbirch Road just after 2am on August 20 this year.

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Annelise Haugstad, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said: “The defendants attended the estate in Hartlepool in a vehicle taken from another dwelling house burglary.

Dwane Bates was jailed for two years for the spate of offences.Dwane Bates was jailed for two years for the spate of offences.
Dwane Bates was jailed for two years for the spate of offences.

"They try a series of doors and vehicles.”

They were arrested by police after a resident of Silverbirch Road called the police at about 2.25am.

As Bates and Keenan were being spoken to by police, they were seen on the officer’s body worn camera discarding latex gloves they had been wearing.

Footage from people’s home CCTV showed the pair trying to enter six homes and two cars.

Silverbirch Road on Bishop Cuthbert, Hartlepool.Silverbirch Road on Bishop Cuthbert, Hartlepool.
Silverbirch Road on Bishop Cuthbert, Hartlepool.
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At one house they were shown peering through the front window and looking up to the bedroom before walking away, said Miss Haugstad.

When he was arrested, Keenan was also carrying a small samurai sword.

Judge Christopher Smith told him: “Goodness knows what might have happened had a householder come down to investigate the noise and they found you in the kitchen with that knife on you.”

Bates and Keenan both admitted the six attempted burglaries, two vehicle interference and going equipped to steal.

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Keenan, of Lightfoot Crescent, Hartlepool, also pleaded guilty to possession of a blade.

Bates, of no fixed address, was on licence at the time after being released from prison for drugs offences.

His barrister Ian Mullarkey said there was no attempt to force entry into the properties once they were found to be locked.

He said: “These were men out chancing their arm.”

Stephen Constantine, mitigating for Keenan, said his client had experienced a lot of instability in his life and may have felt pressured into going along with his older cousin.

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Bates was jailed for two years jail while Keenan got 21 months youth detention suspended for two years.

Judge Smith told them: “You were plainly filled with dishonest intent. You were acting together as a pair.”

Keenan was also given 180 hours unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation days.

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