Addict thief in plea to court to put him in jail

BID TO GET HELP WITH PROBLEMS

A THIEF asked magistrates to send him to prison because his new girlfriend has told him he needs to be locked up in order to sort out his drink and drug addictions.

Mark Baker made the appeal – which was not granted – when he appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to his latest theft offence.

Baker, of Farley Crescent, Ibstock, and an accomplice were caught stealing tools from a home in neighbouring Coalville and loading them into their car on Friday, April 3.

The owners spotted 36-year-old Baker - who has 54 convictions for 89 offences on his record – and the other man in their garden and challenged them, the court heard.

The pair handed back the tools, including a leaf blower, before leaving the area, prosecutor Stacey Mills told the court. However, a photograph of Baker in the victim’s garden was handed to police and circulated among local officers, and he was arrested a short time later, she said.

Baker’s solicitor Simon Mears told the court: “Mr Baker wants me to say on his behalf he wants to go to prison today. I have advised him the possibility of that happening is practically zero, given the nature of the offence.

“He has a drug problem and is looking for help. I have advised him prisons are not hospitals and they are full.

“He still wants me to ask for this on his behalf and if nothing else it demonstrates his seriousness about addressing his current problem.”

Mr Mears said Baker and his accomplice had believed the house, in London Road, to be empty.

“He says he and the other man went to the front door and knocked, but nobody answered,” he said.

“They decided to take the property in the garden and started loading it into the car. While doing so, a person came out of the property and challenged them.”

The items were returned to the owners without question, Mr Mears said.

Magistrates gave Baker a sixmonth conditional discharge. He already had an existing 12-month discharge for a similar offence.

He said: “My girlfriend wants me to go to prison so I can get off the drink and drugs.”

Chairman of the bench Vena Raja told him: “The onus is now on you to sort your life out. There may be other ways of doing that.”

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £21