A 34 YEAR old man who stole almost £2,000 in cash during a burglary at a Ludlow travel agents has been jailed for more than two years.

Matthew Borkowski broke into Ludlow Station Travel at the town’s railway station in August last year by kicking down a door.

He was later involved in a series of thefts from shops in Ludlow and Leominster earlier this year.

Passing sentence at Shrewsbury Crown Court Judge Jonathan Gosling said that Borkowski had become a 'one man crime wave' and the courts had given him repeated chances.

He said the burglary was very serious and the defendant must have known where the cash was kept.

Borkowski was jailed for two years for the burglary and given an additional three months for other offences.

The court heard Borkowski, of Sandpits Avenue, Ludlow, was convicted of burglary and had admitted three charges of theft and offences of using threatening behaviour, criminal damage and handling stolen goods.

Miss Siobhan Collins, prosecuting, said the defendant stole two cash boxes from the travel agents which contained around £1,963 in takings.

He fled the scene but was identified after police found his blood on a door frame.

Borkowski later denied the burglary but failed to attend court for his trial and was convicted in his absence.

Between February and May this year he was involved in shoplifting offences - stealing make-up, cream and household items - at Lloyds Pharmacy and the One Stop shop in Ludlow and at the Boots store in Leominster.

Miss Collins said the defendant was arrested on May 25 when police were called to Potter Close in Ludlow.

Borkowski was in the street shouting loudly and throwing wheelie bins, aiming one at the window of a house.

“The defendant went on to shout, to punch a van, and he was seen to have someone in a headlock,” she said.

She said Borkowski was drunk and his behaviour caused a police officer to draw a taser as the defendant threatened the officers.

Mr Danny Smith, for Borkowski, said his client had been in custody for the past three months and had used the time well completing plastering and painting and decorating courses