The owner of a Suffolk garage has described the "quite catastrophic" impact on his business after a man with 126 previous convictions stole a safe and tools worth £17,000.

Nick Rouse, who owns Middleton Garage in Leiston Road, Middleton, warned he could "potentially go bankrupt" as he struggled to secure insurance money to cover his losses after the garage was burgled by Leroy Clarke, 34, in May.

Clarke, of no fixed address but formerly of Ipswich, was jailed for 16 months and banned from driving for 38 months after admitting burgling the garage and driving while disqualified at Ipswich Crown Court.

READ MORE: Leroy Clarke stole from Middleton Garage near Saxmundham

The court heard that the owner of the garage arrived at the premises to find a door had been forced open and a safe had been forcibly removed from a wall.

A cash tin containing about £50 and 28 tools worth about £17,000 in total had also been stolen in the raid, with code readers among the items taken.

Mr Rouse said: "The impact has been quite catastrophic. The issue is that it is the wrong time of year and it could bankrupt us."

Leroy Clarke was jailed for 16 months in relation to the burglary from Middleton GarageLeroy Clarke was jailed for 16 months in relation to the burglary from Middleton Garage (Image: Suffolk Police) He added the 'taxman' needed paying and he was still waiting for insurers to pay out.

READ MORE: Saxmundham news

"It is dire straits because how do you pay? There isn't an endless pot of money that just sits there.

"We are going to have to borrow money to buy the gear and there is quite a chunk of tax money that we have got to pay. It could potentially bankrupt us, just for the sake of a little bit of gear which isn't worth that amount of money.

"Second hand, it is just not worth any money at all. It is just not worth the quantity of money to put them right."

Sentencing Clarke, Judge Emma Peters said the owner of the garage had worked hard to build up his business over 24 years and people like Clarke made it so much harder for him to make a living.

She told the court it was a tragedy that a relatively young man like Clarke had 126 previous convictions.

She said she would have liked to have awarded the garage owner compensation but she said Clarke had been on universal credit and did not have any money to pay.

READ MORE: Suffolk news