A BURGLAR shattered glass windows at four shops in the city during a crime spree around Oxford’s empty streets.

One shop owner has now said he ‘expected’ something like this to happen because the city centre has turned into a ‘ghost town’ making ‘opportunities’ to commit crime.

On Tuesday night the burglar targeted Sushimania and Sainsbury’s on Park End Street, as well as The Eastgate Hotel on Merton Street and the Missing Bean Café on Turl Street.

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They took wine and cash from the till at the Sushi chain, smashed their way into the hotel and left Sharpie ink all over the walls at the coffee shop.

Alarms were left sounding and managers were responding to emergency calls in the middle of the night.

The owner of the Missing Bean Café, Ori Halup, said the Merton College porter works around the clock so gave him the heads up when something was wrong in at 2am.

Oxford Mail:

He said: “[The burglar] smashed the door and the till was open – there was nothing for him to take. He had broken the window and threw the till on the floor I guess out of frustration there was nothing in it.

“There was also some Sharpie ink sprayed all over the place.

“It is frustrating, hopefully the insurance money will cover it, but to have to wake up at 2am. It is the hassle.

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“You know I just knew something like this was going to happen.

“It was so obvious, it is a ghost town – outside places like Headington there is a bit of life but it’s all empty. It makes it an opportunity no one every looking at you.”

A manager at the Mercure hotel chain said the burglar had smashed the front windows but had not taken anything from inside.

Within hours of the crime spree police arrest a 31-year-old man of no fixed abode.

Yesterday Joshua Bedford was charged with the three counts of burglary and one count of criminal damage.