Bike thief jailed

A bike thief who broke into a university college to steal bikes in Cambridge has been jailed.

Liam Berna was caught on CCTV breaking into the secure cycle store from a Cambridge University College stealing bikes on four occasions between 17 and 20^th January.

The 32-year-old, of no fixed address, also stole three packs of laundry products and threatened a shop worker with a bike lock at Co-Op in Mill Road on 26 January.

At Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (20 February), Berna was sentenced to a year in prison after previously pleading guilty to four counts of burglary, shop theft, using threatening behaviour with intent to cause fear of violence and assault by beating an emergency worker.

He was also given a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order not to:

• Be in possession or control of or be the owner of more than one bicycle at any time
• Be in possession or in control of any bicycle, bicycle part or bicycle accessory without verifiable proof of ownership
• Enter any of the following Cambridge University Colleges: Christ’s College, Churchill College, Clare College, Clare Hall, Corpus Christi College, Darwin College, Downing College, Emmanuel College, Fitzwilliam College, Girton College, Gonville and Caius College, Homerton College, Hughes Hall, Jesus College, King’s College, Lucy Cavendish College, Magdalene College, Murray Edwards College, Newnham College, Pembroke College, Peterhouse, Queens’ College, Robinson College, Selwyn College, Sidney Sussex College, St Catharine’s College, St Edmund’s College, St John’s College, Trinity College, Trinity Hall and Wolfson College.

PC Rob Tindall, from the Cambridge Neighbourhood Team, who investigated, said: “Berna is a prolific thief who targets bikes across the city.

“We’ll continue to target thieves like Berna who cause misery to cyclists across Cambridge and ensure they too are put before the courts.”

CCTV of the incidents can be viewed on our Youtube channel.