Ram raider causes £15,000 worth of shop damage and flees with bottles of vodka

The late-night attack on the One Stop premises in Crown Street, Hebden Bridge, led to the shop being closed for six hours the next day and the repair work took about three months.

COURT NEWS: Halifax dad who set fire to his own house 'could have caused the death of his sons'Bradford Crown Court heard that the damage also had an impact on the shop's trade because it looked as if it was closed when it wasn't.

Depressed substance-abuser Joshua Brockhill, 24, was jailed for a total of 25 months after he admitted a series of offences including driving into the shop front on the night of June 19.

Brockhill, of Edensor Street, Keighley, had stolen the keys to the VW Passat used in the ram-raid from a former nursing home in Bingley a few hours earlier.

COURT NEWS: Violent drunk jailed for biting police officer after shocking attack in HalifaxProsecutor Andrew Horton said Brockhill had damaged a large double door at the Grade 2 listed building during the break-in and he eventually drove off in the Passat which had been parked outside.

After driving 13 miles to Hebden Bridge Brockhill, who had an accomplice with him, then rammed the Passat into the shop front before his passenger jumped out and grabbed the bottles of vodka.

The court heard that in the early hours Brockhill was later seen driving the damaged Passat at 90mph on Halifax Road, Keighley, shortly before it crashed and he ran off.

At an earlier court hearing Brockhill, who had previous convictions for burglary, admitted two burglary charges, one of theft and one of dangerous driving.

CRIME NEWS: £10,000 reward to find stolen Lamborghini last seen in HalifaxBarrister Giles Bridge, for Brockhill, said his client had long standing mental health issues, but during his five months on remand he had become drug and alcohol free.

Recorder Felicity Davies said the loss of the two bottles of vodka was as nothing compared to the damage caused to the shop front.

"The work took three months to do and adversely affected the trade of the shop during that period," she told Brockhill.

"The big question for the court is is it possible to pass a non-custodial sentence today particularly given the time you have spent in custody.

"I have listened with care to what Mr Bridge has urged on the court but I'm afraid it seems to me the offences are too serious to pass another community order particularly when they are all aggravated by the fact that you were on a community order at the time."

Brockhill was also banned from driving for a total of 25 months and told he must take an extended driving test before lawfully driving on the roads again.