A SERIAL safe-cracker is today starting a four-year prison sentence for breaking into a council building and stealing more than £21,000.
Hull Crown Court heard Sidney Sivewright used a stolen access card to gain entry to the Wilson Centre, in Alfred Gelder Street, city centre. He also had the security code to open the safe.
Sivewright, 55, later hid his ill-gotten gains in the loft of an elderly people's complex in Helen Court, Beverley.
The burglary was captured on CCTV footage shown here.
It shows Sivewright with his face hidden, wearing gloves and with a rucksack on his back.
He can be seen typing in the code – which only a few people knew.
The footage also shows Sivewright spraying a substance to remove any traces of his DNA and fingerprints.
He then unloads the safe and places the cash in his bag and makes off.
The raid took Sivewright 45 minutes.
Hull Crown Court heard the day before the burglary, Sivewright, of Cambridge Road, east Hull, entered the council building to check if his stolen access pass worked.
Prosecutor Stephen Welsh told the court: "He was seen to enter the input code to the safe, which would have been known to very few people in the Hull centre.
"There was a significant amount of planning and organisation."
After committing the crime, Sivewright hid the money in the roof rafters of the loft at the residential complex.
The money was discovered by chance when the home underwent an inspection of its electrics. The electricians found the holdall of cash and the police were called.
When Sivewright discovered the holdall had been recovered he told the home's warden if she gave him the bag he would "see her right".
Officers searched his address and a few days later Sivewright contacted the police and handed himself in.
He claimed he was just handling the money for someone else but later pleaded guilty to burglary.
Sivewright's barrister Paul Genney said: "I concede this is sophisticated."
Recorder Tarik Khan QC has jailed him for four years.
He told Sivewright: "You have a criminal record that goes back to the mid 1960s.
"This was, in my judgement, a carefully planned and executed professional burglary.
"You must have known there was a large amount of money to be had.
"You had been there the day before to see if the access code worked so there is little doubt in my mind that this was a well planned crime.
"You took the precaution of wearing gloves and spraying some liquid to remove any trace of fingerprints or DNA.
"This was a sophisticated and professional burglary carried out by a professional criminal.
"There was preplanning and meticulous care was taken to carry out this crime."
Sivewright has been repeatedly jailed for long periods for armed robberies and possessing firearms.
A city council spokesman said: "We worked with the police to carry out their investigation and are pleased it has concluded so swiftly."
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