When officers discovered the stolen van, they found first aid items and resuscitation dolls strewn around.
A man who accidentally filmed himself stealing a van has been sent to prison. Richard Lake, 36, tried to remove a dashcam from a Citroen Berlingo van he was stealing on August 12, 2023.
However, he ended up filming himself. Earlier the same day, he was captured on CCTV burgling a house in Robin Mews, Wisbech, stealing the van keys and two Samsung Galaxy tablets.
He had watched and waited for the homeowner before breaking into the property at 8.44am. Unbeknown to Lake, there was a tracker on the vehicle which alerted the owner it had been stolen.
The vehicle was tracked and found stationary in Acacia Avenue, Wisbech. Cambridgeshire Police officers were led to a field via the tracking company.
They found several resuscitation dummies around, along with first aid items. These were inside the vehicle when it was stolen.
Officers recovered the dashcam with evidence of Lake being in the passenger seat after his attempted to remove it. Lake, of Ingle Road, Elm, Wisbech denied burgling the house and stealing the van.
He was found guilty on December 10 and was sentenced to three years in prison at Peterborough Crown Court on December 18.
Detective Sergeant Rhiann Ward said: “Lake waited on the man to leave his home before breaking in – he has no comprehension of the impact this causes victims of burglary. I hope the victim will move forward whereas Lake will be spending this Christmas behind bars where he belongs.”
