Telford burglar went on three-day crime spree day after being released from prison

David James Worthington carried out a series of offences including a burglary at the Priors Lodge Pub in Telford when he was freed in January.

Mr Christopher Lester, prosecuting, told the sentencing hearing that the pub burglary in Priorslee Avenue was the 31-year-old's most serious crime.

"The defendant was released from prison on on January 18 and the following offences take place over a three-day period after that," said Mr Lester.

"On January 19 at about 11.30pm the [pub] manager was in the flat above when she heard the alarm going off. She contacted the alarm company. They could see from the CCTV that there was movement downstairs.

"The police were called and they arrived a few minutes later. The back door had been forced open with a crowbar. The lady had seen a man with a crowbar moving around.

"In total nine bottles of alcohol worth £340 was stolen."

Mr Lester said the next day Worthington stole a drill from a shed at a property, in Corfield Crescent, Oakengates.

This was followed by him breaking the window of a Ford Transit in Oxford Street also in Oakengates. Mr Lester said blood discovered at the scene was used to identify him with DNA samples.

Implicated

The court heard that Worthington had been jailed for 12 weeks on November 25 last year, for failing to comply with the terms of a community order given for the theft of a car in January 2018.

But he had by then also been facing a handling charge relating to a break-in at a property in Sackville Close, in Wellington, on September 15, when a drill, a bicycle and a spanner set were snatched.

He was implicated after the owner Konrad Skrezeta spotted the drill on sale in Wellington's Cash Converters the following month. The item, worth £80, was sold to the branch for £20.

Worthington previously pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, one count of handling and one count of vehicle interference relating to the matters.

Miss Debra White, mitigating, said the father-of-one had previous issues with drugs and alcohol misuse.

"He asks me to apologise to the court, but mostly to those affected by his actions," Miss White said.

Judge Lowe jailed the landscaper, now of Dodmoor, Stirchley, to a total of two years. He must serve half before being released on licence.

"Burglary of the pub is plainly the most serious of the offences. There are a number of aggravating features," the judge said.

In February 2019 Worthington was sentenced to four months jail, suspended for a year, for the 2018 theft of a Ford Ka along with 20 activity days attendance to the Thinking Skills programme. He breached it and served that term.