A prolific burglar who stole two laptops from a hospice and later a sum of cash from a wallet has been jailed.

Peter Everall, 49, of Fielden Street, Burnley, entered Pendleside Hospice in Colne Road, Burnley, and stole two laptops, which staff noticed were missing four days later.

Burnley Crown Court heard how on Friday, October 21, CCTV showed Everall at the front of the hospice with something in his hand and trying to open the doors.

After establishing it was locked, he waited for somebody to exit the building and then entered, ducking behind the front counter and donning a face mask.

CCTV then showed Everall moving around the premises for up to two hours, speaking to a staff member and saying he was a visitor, and being directed towards the toilets.

Prosecuting, Stephen Parker said identification of Everall came from staff at the hospice and police officers who knew him.

It was also said members of staff searched for Burnley burglaries on Google and search results returned previous instances where Everall was involved.

Everall was also charged with theft from a wallet belonging to a Mr Emmet, a HGV driver at a skip hire company in Oxford Road, Burnley.

On Saturday, November 12, Mr Emmet left the offices of the company to go to a local shop, and upon opening his wallet was shocked to find a cash total of £290 missing.

He knew it must have been taken from the office as this was the only place it had been left unattended.

CCTV enquiries were again conducted, and they showed Everall entering and leaving the premises.

Mr Parker continued by saying Pendleside Hospice is held in high regard and a burglary is potentially damaging to their reputation.

Knowing an unauthorised individual has gained access will cause concern for the safety of patients.

In mitigation, Louise Cowen said she would make no attempt to suggest this offence does not cross the custodial threshold, rather focussing on the length of the sentence.

She said Everall was aware of the huge distress experienced by patients at the hospice and the impact his actions had on staff, volunteers, and visitors.

Ms Cowen made reference to a psychiatric report conducted in July last year and April this year, which said Everall suffered from traumatic childhood experiences due to being placed in care, and has been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder arising from childhood abuse.

She added this property was not targeted because of its status as a hospice, and that he has problems with emotional regulation which enable him to make foolish decisions that may not be made were he not suffering from the disorder.

Passing sentence, Judge Andrew Jeffries KC said: “In August last year for a raft of offences involving dishonesty, you were sentence, with the benefit of a psychiatric report explaining early childhood trauma, to a community order.

“Some may have thought that to be lenient given your previous convictions at the date of sentencing.

"Anybody who took a moment to report that report will understand why you were afforded that opportunity. There was good reason for it.

“Having received that and engaged with probation, it seems on October 21 for a period of about two hours you were inside Pendleside Hospice wandering about where you should not have been and helping yourself to laptop, probably obtained by charitable donations to that building.

“I accept as mitigated that you did not target that building but that is not the same thing as me ignoring the fact that there were vulnerable people in that building.

“As it happens, on that very same day, an application was made to a judge of this court for your unpaid work to be removed and the thinking skills to be removed and replaced by further rehabilitation activity days. That was accepted.

“Why you were unable to attend unpaid work on the day you were committing this burglary is beyond me.

“The order then continued and under a month later you helped yourself to the contents of your second victim’s wallet that he left at his desk.

“The impact of your offending is significant. This is not a case of two laptops being taken from somebody’s shed. The property in question, the impact on the community, those working there, those who have family members there, is all significant.”

Judge Jeffries sentenced Everall to a total term of 28 months and revoked his previous community order.