This is Plymouth -- A PROLIFIC offender has been returned to prison after notching up his 71st offence. Lee Barnett appeared in front of Plymouth Magistrates today after he was found in the Force 4 chandlers on Queen Anne's Battery having smashed the window on Saturday morning. The court heard he set off the business's security alarm alerting an employee who drove to the shop. On arrival the employee and a member of the public saw a man in the building and called the police. A police dog was sent into the premises at around 1.40am on December 14 where Barnett was found climbing out of an inflatable life raft. The 40-year-old was arrested and later made "full and frank admissions" to police. Addressing the court, Graham Kinchin, defending Barnett said the defendant felt foolish. He said: "He kicked the window foolishly and came across the opportunity to steal. The motivation was that he was going to sleep in the inflatable life raft or a motorboat for the night." Mr Kinchin said Barnett was "in drink" and homeless at the time of the offence. Sentencing him to 12 weeks in prison the chair of the bench said his offence and offending history meant he would be returning to custody. She said: "It will come as no surprise to you that you will be going back to custody. The seriousness of this offence is aggravated by the fact this offence was committed on licence – for burglary of a dwelling. "You have a history of offences of similar matters."
Reported by This is 9 hours ago.
This is Plymouth -- A PROLIFIC offender has been returned to prison after notching up his 71st offence. Lee Barnett appeared in front of Plymouth Magistrates today after he was found in the Force 4 chandlers on Queen Anne's Battery having smashed the window on Saturday morning. The court heard he set off the business's security alarm alerting an employee who drove to the shop. On arrival the employee and a member of the public saw a man in the building and called the police. A police dog was sent into the premises at around 1.40am on December 14 where Barnett was found climbing out of an inflatable life raft. The 40-year-old was arrested and later made "full and frank admissions" to police. Addressing the court, Graham Kinchin, defending Barnett said the defendant felt foolish. He said: "He kicked the window foolishly and came across the opportunity to steal. The motivation was that he was going to sleep in the inflatable life raft or a motorboat for the night." Mr Kinchin said Barnett was "in drink" and homeless at the time of the offence. Sentencing him to 12 weeks in prison the chair of the bench said his offence and offending history meant he would be returning to custody. She said: "It will come as no surprise to you that you will be going back to custody. The seriousness of this offence is aggravated by the fact this offence was committed on licence – for burglary of a dwelling. "You have a history of offences of similar matters."
Reported by This is 9 hours ago.