'Horrendous' - South Tyneside murderer involved in ransacking a care home walks free from court
A man previously convicted of murder has been given a suspended prison sentence after taking part in a care home burglary.
A murderer who took part in the ransacking of a South Tyneside care home while residents slept has been handed a suspended prison term.
Christopher Larsen, 59, was jailed for 10 months but walked free from a court when the sentence was suspended for 18 months.
Larsen, of Vernon Close, near Tyne Dock, was on life-long licence when he joined a partner in crime in targeting Haven Court Care Home in McAnany Avenue, South Shields.
Prosecutors claim he helped to trash an office in pinching hundreds of pounds of goodie bags and hampers on Thursday, July 17 last year.
But he told police he had only stood outside while his pal entered and maintained that stance during the entire court process.
He was linked to the overnight raid by a blood spatter left on the window which forensic testing proved was his.
Larsen handed himself in to police when he realised the game was up.
The offender pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary with intent to steal at a hearing at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court in June and returned to the same court for sentencing.
His first hearing was told he had committed a murder, believed to be in Gateshead, in 1998.
At his latest hearing, prosecutor Carlie McArdle said: “The defendant has gone into the staff office and taken various items valued at £452.
“The manager attended the day after and found that the items were gone and a window was smashed.
“The repair for the window has been put at £1,898 but I’ve no information if insurance has compensated.”
In a victim statement, the manager said the burglar had “devastated” the care home and that it was “horrendous” that someone could steal from the elderly.
She also revealed staff and residents had been left scared “in case he came back”.
A report by the Probation Service said Larsen was engaging well with its teams.
David Forrester, defending, told District Judge Zoe Passfield: “His position is that he didn’t go into the care home and that he stayed outside.
“It’s quite a high starting point, so maybe I can’t talk you down to a community order.”
Judge Passfield told Larsen his crime was made more serious because the victims were “particularly vulnerable”.
She also made him subject to 25 rehabilitation days and a six-month drug rehabilitation order, and he must pay £500 compensation to the care home.