A CRICKET club was ransacked by two night-time burglars who did £500 damage and made off with £200 in donations, Bradford Crown Court heard.

The intruders, one in a skeleton mask and one in a white mask, broke in through the roof and had stowed their haul in a pillowcase when the police arrived.

Gareth Knowles, one of the men burgling Great Horton Cricket Club, on Ewart Street, Bradford, was caught fleeing the scene, prosecutor Frances Pencheon said.

He escaped from the police shortly afterwards when the handcuffs he was wearing were loosened because he complained he was in pain.

Miss Pencheon said the till was emptied during the burglary at 5.30am on August 5 last year.

The snooker table was damaged in a bid to plunder money from it and a television set had been taken down ready to steal.

A victim impact statement from the club secretary said members had been badly affected by the break-in. The donations stolen, together with the cost of repairs, had made a big impact. Volunteers at the club were now fearful of returning at night to check on the premises.

Knowles, 32, of Milner Ing, Wyke, Bradford, pleaded guilty to burgling the club, escaping from lawful custody and to two further burglaries. He was jailed for three years.

He admitted raiding Direct Deals, in Huddersfield Road, Bradford, on February 12 this year and burgling Eclipse Energy in Lord Street, Halifax, on August 10.

The Direct Deals computer shop was broken into at 5.15am and a £500 computer stolen. Knowles was arrested when his blood was found at the scene.

Oliver Barker, 33, of Barkerend Road, Bradford, was jailed for 18 months after he pleaded guilty to burgling the Eclipse Energy offices with Knowles.

The external alarm was smashed off the wall, a door pane broken and an untidy search made, the court heard. The burglars were caught red-handed by the police piling up computer towers and laptops.

An iPad was stolen and £5,000 loss and damage was caused to the company. It had to shut down for eight days while the mess was cleared up.

Knowles, who was on bail when he committed the Halifax burglary, had 41 previous convictions for 56 offences.

He was on licence during the first two burglaries after serving a jail sentence for theft and allowing himself to be carried in a vehicle.

Barker had 35 previous convictions for 65 offences. He was on licence after serving a prison sentence for possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.

Judge Colin Burn said the burglaries were at night and involved an untidy search of the premises. The raid on the cricket club had caused “a significant amount of carnage,” while the burglary at Eclipse Energy was “destructive and disruptive.”