CCTV enquiries by officers leads to burglar being identified
A burglar who was identified following CCTV enquiries by officers has been jailed.
Justin Chappell, aged 43 and of no fixed abode, was sentenced to 40 months in prison after admitting two burglary charges and theft. He also asked for a further three burglary offences and three thefts to be taken into consideration when sentenced.
Between around 2am and 2.45am on Saturday 11 July 2026 Chappell forced entry to the Esso petrol station in Blandford Road in Poole and made off with a cashbox containing more than £4,900 in cash.
At around 5.30am on Wednesday 22 July 2026 the occupant of a home in Lytchett Minster saw a man standing in her kitchen by the back door and screamed, causing him to run away.
CCTV from the property showed the man trying handles to the victim’s vehicles and going inside one of them and stealing a pair of sunglasses.
Chappell was identified from CCTV in relation to both burglaries and was subsequently arrested.
When he appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court to be sentenced on Friday 18 September 2026, Chappell also made admissions to three theft offences and three commercial burglary offences committed in Poole between December 2025 and July 2026 and asked for them to be taken into consideration as he was sentenced.
Police Constable Kelly Stronach, of Dorset Police’s Neighbourhood Crime Team, said: “We recognise the impact burglaries have on both businesses and residents and we will thoroughly investigate all crimes of this nature that are reported to us.
“In this case officers were able to quickly identify Justin Chappell as the suspect through CCTV enquiries and bring him to justice for his offending.”
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