A TAVISTOCK man who stole £19,000 worth of wedding dresses and a mannequin from an Exeter shop was last week given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay £3,700 in compensation and costs. Exeter Crown Court heard that Michael Giles, 20, of Beech Close, Tavistock, stole the gowns from the Feathers of Isca shop in March, after smashing a window and loading the gowns into his car. The court heard a passer by witnessed the burglary and called the police, who arrested Mr Giles some 20 minutes later. Prosector Jennifer Wilson said the wedding dresses were recovered, but needed specialist cleaning to the tune of £3,861, which was covered by an insurance claim. She told the court Mr Giles already had a previous police caution after he broke into a wedding dress shop in Plymouth. The court heard Mr Giles had told police he had been drinking in Plymouth and decided to go for a drive. He saw the shop, decided to burgle it and threw a brick through the window. Barry White, defending, said Mr Giles, a labourer, could not afford to pay compensation. He said the offence was not a sophisticated one and that the burglary had been recorded on closed circuit cameras. Judge Paul Darlow said: ?This was a commercial burglary where you made off with £19,000 worth of wedding dresses. ?No-one knows why you did it but you have a fascination for doing it. Such was the value of the stock, and there was an element of pre-planning, which means the custody threshold has been passed.? Mr Giles pleaded guilty to burglary and was given a 51-week prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was ordered to pay £3,500 compensation and £200 prosecution costs.
