A LONDON man has been sentenced for burglary and other offences in Reading and Slough.
Anthony Chieke, aged 56 AND of Mount Street, Westminster, was sentenced to four years in prison, following a hearing at Reading Crown Court, on Wednesday, October 8.
Chieke, who refused to attend court, was found guilty, by unanimous jury, in his absence, of two counts of burglary and one count each of criminal damage, dangerous driving and driving whilst disqualified at the same hearing.
Between 9pm on Saturday, October 21, and 6.30am on Sunday, October 22, last year, Chieke entered Abu Bakr Mosque on Oxford Road and smashed donation boxes.
He then stole around £1,000 in cash as well as keys from the mosque to access the CCTV room.
He sprayed the CCTV cameras with white spray paint and damaged cables which were linked to the hard drive of the CCTV system, where Chieke’s DNA was later located.
Then on Monday, November 18, officers, including a police dog handler, were alerted via Automatic Number-Plate Recognition (ANPR) to Chieke’s vehicle in Slough.
Officers located the vehicle but Chieke failed to stop.
During the ensuing pursuit, Cheike turned into a dead end road, where he was then blocked in by two police vehicles.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Daniel Hardwick said: “This was a burglary of a mosque that affected a whole community.
“Some days after the incident, the worshippers and attendees were incredibly anxious with some not feeling safe enough to return for weeks.
“The damage caused to the mosque and CCTV system was into the many thousands, and I’m pleased Mr Chieke has received a custodial sentence.
“He refused to engage throughout the entire judicial process. This includes refusing to engage during his police interview or refusing to attend court either in person or via live link from prison.
“I hope the attendees of the mosque can now move on and feel safe in their place of worship.”
Chieke, attempting to escape, reversed his vehicle, with his driver door open, into a police vehicle. The police dog handler had been getting out of the police vehicle at the time and was injured.
The officer required hospital treatment and has since been discharged.
Chieke was arrested on Tuesday 19 November and charged the following day.
