East End Towers duo stole £2000 from under man’s bed after befriending him in the pub

Two thieves living in the towers in the East End of Sunderland stole £2000 from under a man’s bed after befriending him in the pub.

On February 7 this year, the victim went to a pub in Sunderland and was playing on slot machines and having a drink when he was approached by Connor Tayton and Lloyd Boswell.

They spoke to him for around an hour and invited him back to their flat in Lambton Tower in the East End, where he stayed the night socialising.

Before leaving in the morning, he told the pair where he lived and they attended his home on the evening of February 8 and joined him in his neighbour’s home.

Then on February 10 they turned up again and entered the neighbour’s home.

Kelly Clarke, prosecuting, said: “Connor Tayton demanded the complainant gave him money. One of the defendants restrained the complainant, pinning him to the floor while the other defendant searched his bedroom.

“They then made off with £2,000 which was hidden under his bed in money bags. The whole incident was witnessed by the neighbours.”

The pair had stood trial accused of robbery but during the trial prosecutors accepted their guilty pleas to theft. Defence barristers disputed that the pair had used force during the theft although a judge said there had been “an element of violence”.

The pair were seen by police at a bus stop opposite the complainants home on February 14 and called colleagues to arrest them as they fit the description of those who had carried out the offence.

Boswell, 38, who has 24 previous convictions, was sentenced to 13 months suspended for two years with £1,000 compensation and a two-year restraining order. Tayton, 28, who has 52 previous convictions and was ten days into a suspended sentence at the time, was sentenced to 15 months suspended for two years with £1,000 compensation and a restraining order. He was fined £200 for breaching the previous suspended sentence.