A HALESOWEN teenager who was in a hole-in-the-wall gang that carried out a £10,000 raid has avoided being locked-up.

The gang used tools to smash their way into an electrical goods warehouse A.A.Domestics but the hole was not big enough for them to get away with some of the larger sized goods.

They did manage to escape with a number of items with some property being abandoned in an exterior yard.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court, Nigel Stelling, prosecuting, said investigating police officers found packaging had been removed from goods and one piece was found to have the fingerprints of 19-year-old Mark Worrall.

Mr Stelling added after his arrest Worrall told police he had been asked to help out with loading goods.

There was some ransacking of the premises after the wall was breeched and it was clear the business had been targeted by the gang.

He said: :“They went along with the necessary tools and they were used to remove brickwork in the wall.”

Worrall, of Mansons Close, Colley Gate, admitted burglary and he was given eight months in a young offenders Institution suspended for 18 months.

He was further ordered to carry out 180 hours unpaid work in the community and to pay £400 towards the cost of the prosecution.

Christopher O’Gorman, for Worrall - a man with no previous convictions, said he had first been asked to act as a look-out before being asked to take part in the raid.

Mr O’Gorman said: “He says he was offered £50 or £60 for his help, he certainly did not play a central or organisational role.”

Judge John Wait told the teenager he accepted he had been recruited to join the gang and added: “You were part of a well organised, commercial burglary where electrical goods were targeted but I accept your role would have been modest.”