Man caught hiding in bush with ‘socks on palms’ in school clearly not the sharpest device

James Dean, 45, was found hiding in a bush with socks on his hands after breaking into St Peter’s Catholic Primary School in Noctorum, Wirral, causing nearly £10,000 of damage

A heartless burglar who targeted a primary school was discovered hiding in a bush with socks on his hands. James Dean told police that he “didn’t give a f***” when informed that he had stolen from pupils and proceeded to label the teachers as “grasses”.

Although he later accepted his fate, admitting “I’m nicked, I done it”, he also attempted to negotiate a deal that would result in only a year in prison. However, he was ultimately given more than twice this sentence, with the break-in occurring despite him reportedly having young relatives who attended the school.

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Wednesday that Merseyside Police were summoned to St Peter’s Catholic Primary School in Noctorum, Wirral, just before midnight on May 24 this year after a teacher living opposite the premises was alerted to an ongoing burglary by security alarms.

Officers subsequently found Dean concealed beneath a hedge in the garden of a nearby house, wearing socks on his hands. Olivia Randell, prosecuting, detailed how the 45-year-old, of Stanley Road in Birkenhead, also had items including the school’s CCTV hard drive and two cash boxes beside him at this time, with £652.16 in cash being retrieved from him as he confessed: “I’m nicked. I done it.”

Dean, who said he had “drank a few cans of beer”, also went on to state that he would admit to a further six burglaries if his sentence would be limited to no more than 12 months. Under interview, he told detectives that he “didn’t know why he did it, but it was most likely for money”, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Judge Katherine Pierpoint added of the incident: “I have seen the body worn footage in this case. He started to say that he wasn’t responsible, that he had found the items, that he had seen some other lads get off.

“He then started to shout abuse at members of staff who had obviously been alerted by the alarm, calling them grasses. When police said he was accused of stealing from children, his response was ‘I don’t give a f***’.”

Ms Randell went on to outline how the school’s main entrance had to be replaced at a cost exceeding £7,000 after Dean kicked it with such violence that the frame was knocked loose. He was also said to have inflicted £1,500 worth of damage to internal fire doors, while the CCTV system required approximately £1,000 to replace.

This followed an earlier crime spree on April 5, during which Dean targeted Sylvan Home Care Services, Gossip Coffee and Wine Bar and Voltage bar, all on Allport Lane in Bromborough. While no items were stolen during these break-ins, he was said to have left behind a trail of devastation which cost over £4,000 to repair.

Dean has accumulated 59 previous convictions for 127 offences, including more than a dozen burglaries. His criminal history resulted in him receiving a three-year sentence for breaking into a pub in 2019 and four years for robbery in 2022.

Chris Macmaster, defending, told the court: “Mr Dean does not seek to excuse his behaviour. It it clear that Mr Dean has active diagnoses of depression, anxiety and ADHD and has a history of psychotic symptoms, including auditory hallucinations. Some of the things he says when intoxicated should be treated, in my respectful submission, in that context, in the context of a gentleman who has some complicated and substantial issues.

“In another circumstance, there may be an argument, serious though these matters are, where the court could perhaps look at some other options. Mr Dean is man in his middle 40s who, palpably, does need some help.

“He has been honest with the mental health team, that, having spent a substantial period in custody for a lot of his adult life, he has become somewhat institutionalised and has struggled enormously upon his short periods of re-release. He accepts that this particular offending happened within a matter of days of his most recent release. He served much of that four years, having been the subject of licence recalls.

“There are some silver linings. He does have family support, and I have been instructed that his sister, in particular, does wish to provide him with support and wishes him to have a roof over his head in the long term. Mr Dean is extremely anxious to finally turn the page on his behaviour and his cooperation, his prompt guilty plea and the support of his family are important factors.

“He does recognise that he has long term issues with his mental health, long term issues with substance misuse, long term issues with alcohol misuse, and he is going to have to work on all of those issues. In the long term, he wants to work on them on licence, and he wants to not return to these courts any more. He is not a young man any more.”

Dean admitted guilt to one count of burglary and requested a further three burglary offences to be considered during sentencing. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey Reprimo T-shirt, he was imprisoned for two years and eight months.

During sentencing, Judge Pierpoint stated: “Police attended very quickly and promptly attended the scene. They discovered, in that school, a great deal of damage. Somebody, and it later transpired that it was you, had damaged the double doors and kicked them so hard they had actually come off their frames.

“The total damage was nearly £10,000 of damage of a public building. You got into the office area, where you had taken two money boxes and also damaged the CCTV system and taken the hard drive with you.

“You made good your escape and hid in someone’s garden, under a bush. You had socks on your hands, which shows some degree of planning because you did not want your fingerprints to be found. You were issuing threats to people who were nearby.

“I do have regard to the diagnosed mental health issues that you have. That may explain, to some extent, the way you were acting at the scene. You clearly were, at that time, under the influence of alcohol.

“It will have taken a lot of time, effort and money to sort out what you did in only a few moments. It is not just the financial impact that this kind of offence has. It is also the impact it has on the teachers, on the children and on the wider community.

“I hope it is right that, in the sober light of day, you are thoroughly ashamed that you broke into a school where you have family members who go to or have been to that school. I hope you are thoroughly ashamed of what you did. You have an appalling record. I count well over a dozen offences of burglary and associated offences up to 2016.

“I hope it is right that you are remorseful and shameful for what you have got yourself in and that you want to try to turn your life around. If that doesn’t happen, you will either end up damaging yourself or serving lengthier and lengthy sentences in custody.”

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