Gosport man convicted following Lee-on-the-Solent golf club break-in which caused more than £1,000 in damage

An automatic security alarm alerted officers to the break-in at the golf club shortly after midnight on Monday, May 10.

Now Peter Civil, a 37-year-old from Ann’s Hill Road in Gosport, has appeared in court after being charged for the burglary.

His solicitor indicating that Civil would plead guilty to the burglary charge as he appeared before Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court earlier today.

Three days earlier, officers arrived at the golf club to find an emergency door had been damaged and the bar area had been ransacked, as well as two charity boxes – for the Rainbow Centre in Fareham and Naomi’s House – had been stolen.

The glass in an emergency door had been smashed and the shutters to the bar were damaged by being forced open, with the club now expecting to incur a repair bill of more than £1,000, according to general manager Andrew Buck.

He said: ‘The bar shutters were pulled down and various bottles were smashed. There were some money bags taken – they were found by the police and they have them as evidence. They would contain less than £100. They also took about two bottles of wine with them.

‘For very little stolen, there’s quite a lot of damage. The shutters at the bar have to be replaced, and there was a lot of glass to clear up.

‘It has been a lot of inconvenience.’

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The club is pursuing an insurance claim to cover the costs.

Civil has been remanded on conditional bail until his next appearance at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on June 29.

He will be electronically monitored and under curfew from 7am to 7pm at his address in Ann’s Hill Road.

A second man, a 38-year-old from Gosport, was arrested on suspicion of burglary, and has been released from custody but remains under investigation while enquiries continue, according to Hampshire Constabulary.

The golf club has reopened its course, as well as outdoor service from the bar, and it plans to open for indoor service when lockdown restrictions are eased on Monday, May 17.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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