Prosecutors said the 34-year-old burgled the Belfast Tattoo Studio, Bootleggers, SS Moore, Nice Sip, Spoon Street and The National Cafe
A SERIAL shop thief has been jailed for 18 months for a spate of burglaries on businesses in Belfast.
Stephen Patrick David Crumley, of Donegall Avenue in Belfast, previously pleaded guilty to seven counts of burglary and one of attempted burglary with intent to steal.
The 34-year-old further admitted three counts of fraud by false representation and possessing a Class C drug, namely Tramadol.
Belfast Crown Court heard the first set of offences related to burglary offences committed in Belfast city centre between May 8 and May 17, 2004. Prosecutors said Crumley burgled the Belfast Tattoo Studio on Pottinger’s Entry and stole £30 in cash. The same day, May 8, he entered Bootleggers in Church Lane and removed £160 from a cash box. And on May 17 Crumley appeared at the rear stairs of SS Moore in Chichester Street and took £40 from a purse along with keys and a cash box.
On a second set of charges he burgled Boojum in Botanic Avenue, south Belfast, on October 26, 2024 and stole a wallet and credit cards.
The credit card was used the same day to make purchases at the Spar shop, Botanic, Tesco Express on the Dublin Road and at Hui Bai Jai Asian supermarket in Donegall Pass.
On November 9, 2024, Crumley entered the Nice Sip shop on the Lisburn Road and stole £100 in cash. The defendant’s fingerprints were recovered at the scene. He subsequently burgled Slims Chicken in Victoria Square on January 28, 2025, and stole a Coach handbag, two passports, a mobile phone, a Nintendo Switch, Air Pods, clothes and keys with a total value of £2,000.
He was captured on CCTV in Slims Chicken and he was later identified trying to sell the stolen items at Cash Converters in High Street. The same day he entered Spoon Street in Ann Street and stole £90 in cash from a till in the staff area.
On February 9, 2025, Crumley tried to burgle The National Cafe in High Street but fled empty handed after staff noticed him tampering with a till.
Defence barrister Sean O’Hare said Crumley was currently awaiting a committal hearing at Belfast Magistrates’ Court next week for a further 15 charges of burglary committed between October 2024 and February 2025.
He told the court that Crumley was now likely to lose his house because of his offences and has rent arrears of £1,700.
Judge Neil Rafferty KC said Crumley had a “significant criminal record” which included 21 entries for burglary and seven for theft. In a letter to the court from the Prison Fellowship, it stated that Crumley now had a “degree of pattern in custody” and he is also an enhanced prisoner.
Said Judge Rafferty: “The sad tragedy of Mr Crumley’s life is that he is a 34-year-old man and in 2021, in an effort to deal with his problems and his offending, I took the chance on a burglary offence he committed and imposed a three-year probation order on him.
“Unfortunately, that has not worked and I now find myself sentencing him for two bills of indictment and a third bill of indictment is on its way to me in January next year from the magistrates’ court.”
Crumley was assessed by the Probation Board as a high likelihood of reoffending. Following his 18 months in custody, Judge Rafferty said Crumley will spend a similar period on supervised licence on his release from prison.
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