Leigh Snell yet to reveal where heirlooms are after Bridge Rd burglary

A career criminal who once sparked a manhunt after escaping police custody and later set fire to his jail cell is prolonging a family’s agony by refusing to reveal what he did with priceless heirlooms he stole during a Richmond burglary spree.

Leigh Snell has not told police where the items he stole from Varsity Prints are located.

A career criminal is prolonging a family’s agony by refusing to reveal what he did with the priceless family heirlooms he stole.

Leigh Snell, 37, was sentenced in the County Court to 10 months jail and a 12-month community corrections order after pleading guilty to three counts of burglary and theft.

But Snell, who had already spent 366 days in custody at the time of sentencing, was immediately released.

Meanwhile, the owners of family-run Richmond business Varsity Prints will likely never recover irreplaceable jewellery and wedding rings he stole during his 2017 burglary.

Snell raided the Bridge Rd business on November 16, netting $122,000 of property including gold bars, Tiffany & Co sterling silver jewellery, gold sovereign coins, wedding rings, gold jewellery and thousands in cash.

An investigator recognised Snell while reviewing CCTV of the burglary, but when police raided his Caulfield flat, seizing some stolen property, the crook was nowhere to be found.

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He resurfaced in Brisbane where he was arrested and jailed in December 2017 after he was found in possession of the gold coins.

But he refused to tell police where the rest of items stolen from Varsity Prints were.

In a victim impact statement for the court, family spokeswoman and Varsity Prints co-owner Pilly Sarantis said she and her husband had been saving the money to pay for a house deposit for their daughters and for their upcoming weddings.

Ms Sarantis’s father-in-law passed away not long after the burglary.

Speaking to the Leader after the hearing, Ms Sarantis said police had told her to not to expect to get the heirlooms back.

Snell used some of the cash he stole from Varsity Prints to pay his rent.

“With dad being really upset we really just want to move on with our lives and forget about the whole thing,” she said.

The family does not have photos of the stolen heirlooms but Ms Sarantis said the three items which meant the most were two fob watches with the initials “KS” and “SS” and a rare, white/gold interlocking ring.

The family-run print shop was one of three Bridge Rd businesses Snell knocked over during his midnight burglary spree.

Police recovered sovereign coins similar to this when they arrested Snell.

Snell, who has been in and out of jail since he was 17, also broke into GEO Group — a private company which provides outsourced corrections services.

He also ransacked and stole electronic goods from a third business.

He was extradited to Victoria in June 2018 after he completed his Queensland jail stint.

Judge Julie Condon said Snell had a “long and complex forensic criminal history”.

“(You have an) extensive and entrenched criminal history,” she said.

“Although your risk of reoffending is high you were found to be suitable for a community corrections order.”

Judge Condon said Snell had taken steps to defeat his drug addiction and would have family support when released — parts of the reason for her sentence.

“The future contains some glimmer of hope,” she said.

Snell sparked a manhunt in February 2010 after he escaped police custody while handcuffed in Melbourne’s CBD.

While serving time in 2010 he set fire to his maximum security cell at Port Phillip Prison, and was later jailed for that crime in 2013.

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