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Petrol station ram raider locked up

By: KentOnline reporter multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 08:56, 03 September 2009

Updated: 08:57, 03 September 2009

by Keith Hunt

A ram raider who smashed his way into a petrol station shop late at night managed to steal just £239 worth of cigarettes, but caused almost £5,500 worth of damage, a court heard.

Ricky Morgan rammed Iden Park Garage in Staplehurst in a stolen Daihatsu Sportstrack 4x4 car with bull bars on September 23.

Now, the 23-year-old roofer, of White Horse Lane, Otham, has been jailed for three years two months after admitting burglary.

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Maidstone Crown Court heard there was no cash on the premises when the 12.30am raid was committed on the closed garage in the quiet village.

Judge James O’Mahony said: "It was not the most sophisticated or carefully planned ram raid."

Police traced Morgan through DNA found on a hammer.

Judge O’Mahony said ram raids were regarded by the courts as outrageous offences and an affront to society.

"Getting into a vehicle and crashing it into premises is something akin to an illegal military operation," he told Morgan.

"You used a powerful vehicle with a reinforced front, as if it was a machine that crashed into the premises. The damage done was considerable.

"The only thing one can say on this matter is it was not, perhaps, a sophisticated operation. But you got your lousy cigarettes as a result of the awful thing you did."

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