Burglar who stole from pal now in breach of work order
JON MACPHERSON
ABURGLAR has been given a second chance after breaching a court order.
Dylan Brown, of Church Hall, Church, was given a 12 month sentence, suspended for 18 months with 200 hours unpaid work, after pleading guilty to burglary earlier this year.
The Observer previously reported how the 22-yearold ransacked his friend’s house when he realised he was abroad on holiday and stole around £20,000 worth of items including the keys to his Audi A3 car.
Brown, formerly of Marlborough Road, Accrington, appeared again at Burnley Crown Court this week after missing two unpaid work appointments. He pleaded guilty to breaching his suspended sentence order by failing to keep in contact with his responsible officer.
He has now been given an additional two-months electronically monitored curfew and ordered to pay £150 costs.
Lucy Wright, prosecuting, said Brown claimed he was ‘unwell’ when he missed the appointments on March 18 and May 11 but that he had ‘failed to get the medical evidence before the probation service in time’.
She told the court: “While being under the order his attendance has been sporadic.
“He has asked to change his unpaid work days a number of times because of employment.
“The Probation Service are of the opinion that every effort has been made to accommodate Mr Brown’s requests but he has continued to fail to attend and keep in contact.”
Miss Wright told the court that since Brown was found in breach of the order he had completed 91 hours of his unpaid work in 13 sessions over four weeks – bringing his total number of unpaid work hours to 141. However he had also missed four other sessions during that time, the court heard.
Ellen Shaw, defending, said Brown ‘knows he is on a sticky wicket’ but that the amount of recently completed unpaid work shows he is ‘capable of continuing on this suspended sentence’.
She said: “He’s a young man in employment. He has simply struggled to balance his work commitments with the Probation Service unpaid work.”
Judge Graham Knowles QC said it would be ‘unjust’ to send him to prison for the breach but warned Brown he has now had ‘every opportunity’ to avoid custody.