Jail for Suffolk jewellery thief who brought Ipswich to standstill after escaping to rooftop

  • Watch Natalie Gray's report from May 2024.

A thief who was left stranded on a town-centre rooftop after a failed raid on a jewellers has been jailed.

Ipswich's Buttermarket was cordoned off for nine hours after police were called to reports of a break-in at Carats Jewellers just after 4.30am on 16 May.

Daniel Coulson, 49 of Woodbridge Road was eventually arrested and charged with two counts of burglary.

Coulson was also charged with another count of burglary that happened the week before at Europcar UK Ltd in Ipswich.

Police were called to the scene at about 4.30am. Credit: ITV News Anglia

He had stolen a Mercedes car, electronic devices, coffee machine, the keys of 17 vehicles and 10 electric vehicle charging cards.

Following these charges and his guilty plea, Coulson admitted a further six offences which were taken into consideration by the court.

He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for the burglary offences.

He was also sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for intentionally causing a public nuisance, to be served consecutively, giving him a total of two years and six months in jail.

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £228.

All emergency services were called to the scene. Credit: ITV News Anglia

Det Con Jack Evans said: "Coulson is a brazen individual who caused significant impact to business owners, the Ipswich community and emergency services.

"His reckless behaviour on 16 May put not only himself but also members of the public on the ground at great risk of harm and to resolve the situation in the safest way possible, a considerable area of the town centre had to be cordoned off.

"Businesses were unable to open while the incident was ongoing and, as a consequence, suffered significant financial losses.

"The incident also required a large number of emergency services personnel to be present for several hours, which restricted their abilities to support other people who needed our assistance.

"It is satisfying to see him in jail where he will have plenty of time to reflect on his criminal behaviour."

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