A prolific thief with a violent streak and a penchant for Volkswagens has admitted 14 burglaries and 12 car thefts during an epic, four-month thieving spree in York and beyond.
Reece Davidson, 25, pleaded guilty to a litany of offences including the theft of nine VW Golf cars, York Crown Court heard.
In October, he was jailed for eight months for suffocating his then partner and breaching a non-molestation order, but YorkMix had to hold reports as Davidson was facing the new matters – namely 35 alleged offences including burglary, attempted burglary, theft and handling stolen goods.
On Thursday (23 November), he appeared in the dock charged with 16 burglaries, four attempted burglaries, 12 associated thefts and handling stolen goods.
He admitted all but two of the burglaries and, for those he denied, he pleaded guilty to alternative offences of handling stolen goods.
Davidson, of Carr Lane, York, denied all but one of the attempted-burglary allegations but admitted all 12 thefts. He denied two further allegations of handling stolen goods, namely a Yamaha motorbike and a Honda motorcycle.
The prosecution accepted his pleas and judge Simon Hickey adjourned sentence to December 19.
The offences for which he now falls to be sentenced include break-ins at homes in York including
- Gale Lane
- Water End
- Rowntree Avenue
- Huntington Road
- Tudor Road
- Lowfields Drive
- Pennyghent Avenue
- Main Street, Bishopthorpe
- Wensleydale Drive in Osbaldwick
- Burtree Avenue in Skelton
- and Ashbourne Way, Woodthorpe.
In many of the break-ins he stole car keys and vehicles and in others he allegedly stole wallets.
He also burgled the Tadcaster Household Waste Recycling Centre where he stole keys, tools and copper piping.
His burglary spree even stretched to Selby, where he broke into a home in Church Street and stole car keys and a watch.
He used stolen car keys to drive off in several VW Golfs, along with an Audi A3, a Seat Leon and a VW T-Roc.
The burglary and thieving spree occurred over a four-month period between May and October 2022.
Terrifying incident
Last month, Davidson was jailed for suffocating his then partner during a terrifying incident in which he put his hand over her mouth and nose as she tried to scream for help.
The named victim was also bitten during the incident inside a car in Toft Green following a “heated row” between the couple.
Prosecutor Harry Crowson said the named victim took out a non-molestation order against Davidson in 2021, although they stayed in touch and were still in a relationship when the attack occurred in June 2022.
Davidson and the victim were sat in one of his friend’s cars when they became embroiled in an argument which “quickly became physical”.
He “clamped down” on her nose and mouth “with enough force that she was unable to breathe”.
She suffered a severely swollen nose, bruising to her face and neck, and a bite mark to her hand. She required medical treatment for the bruises and had a splint fitted to her hand due to injuries to her finger. She also had a precautionary hepatitis jab due to having been bitten.
Davidson, a father-of-three, had a long criminal record for offences including burglary, theft and violence.
In February, he was jailed for over four years for a group burglary and theft of a vehicle at a house in Malton where a woman was assaulted and had a torch shone in her face while she was lying in bed.
The terrified victim was struck in the face with a weapon by one of the raiders while others rifled through the house looking for rich pickings.
One of the burglars then snuck into her son’s room and shone a torch in his direction, before fleeing with his car keys which was were used to steal his £16,000 Seat Leon, along with his wallet, bank card and an Apple Airtag tracker.
The break-in occurred in the early hours of October 15 last year, when the raiders snapped the lock on a patio door at the house in Dairy Way, Norton.
The sentencing judge said Davidson’s drug use had resulted in a “depressing spiral (of) debt and crime”.
In April, he was jailed for a further four years, to run concurrently with his existing sentence, for another “joint enterprise” burglary. Davidson’s current release date was between December next year and April 2025, but he’s now facing another lengthy sentence for the new offences.