No cats, sex offenders or bad smells: Man who refused to finish community order is locked up
The Telford bricklayer failed to complete his unpaid work after being sentenced for common assault.
A bricklayer has been jailed for breaching a community order because he refused work with a sex offender.
An allergy to cats and a bad smell at a work site were among other reasons Luke Morris gave for failing to complete unpaid work.
Morris, of Blakemore, Brookside, Telford, was handed a 12-month community order in January after admitting common assault.
A court heard his order included 200 hours of unpaid work, of which 100 hours has already been completed.
But he failed to complete the remaining 100 hours, giving a number of excuses as to why he was unable to do the work.
Lucy Cash, prosecuting, said Morris was given several chances to attend sessions and complete the remainder of the work.
But he gave a number of reasons for refusing to turn up, including a bad smell where his work was due to take place on June 21.
On July 6 he did attend a session, but Miss Cash said he made threats to the work party and the police were called.
Following this, the probation service deemed Morris was no longer suitable for unpaid work.
At Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday he admitted breaching the order and was jailed for two months.
Kevin Jones, defending, said the the 33-year-old refused to work because of a bad smell and because he was allergic to cats, but admitted these were unacceptable reasons.
He said his client had not made threats but had expressed concerns about working with a convicted sex offender.
Mr Jones proposed that the unpaid work was revoked and a thinking skills programme was put in place.
But Judge Jonathan Gosling, instead made the decision to jail Morris.
Judge Gosling said: "You failed to attend on a number of occasions, and those in charge were very patient with you.
"You were not prepared to work with someone convicted of a sex offence.
"You can't control others around you. You were told there would be consequences if you breached the order and that time has arrived."
He was jailed for two months, with Judge Gosling adding he will serve half of the sentence.
