Forensic evidence trips NSW break-in man

A man has been charged over break-ins in the Lake Macquarie area over a period of five years, some of them possibly committed when he was a teenager.

In 2013, several schools in the area were broken into and though police gathered forensic evidence, they were unable to find the culprit.

In the early hours of Tuesday and Wednesday, a supermarket in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Gateshead was allegedly broken into. Each time a large amount of cigarettes were stolen.

Early on Friday morning, a post office shop in another suburb, Redhead, was broken into. A short time later, a police patrol stopped two men in a car, with a search of the vehicle allegedly locating breaking tools and an amount of unopened cigarettes.

Following checks, one of the men was linked by forensic evidence to the 2013 break-ins. The man, just 20, has been charged with 11 offences and refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court on Saturday.

A 26-year-old man was charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact and was granted strict conditional bail to appear at Belmont Local Court on June 20.