Blind pipe burglar is jailed after 192nd offence

A BLIND burglar has been jailed for his 192nd offence after leading police on a chase into a river.

Paul Anthony Gibson, 55, is registered blind but has a degree of partial vision, which enables him to walk using a stick.

On Aug 24, Cumbria Police were alerted to a break-in at Eden Grove, a derelict former residential school near Appleby.

They caught Gibson stealing pipes, but he jumped into a river and tried to escape by wading through the water.

He has been jailed for five months after admitting burglary and resisting a police officer.

Prosecutor Sarah Magill told the court: “A police officer attended the property following reports of criminal damage and burglary. The building was in some state of disrepair.”

At the entrance, the officer found a pile of metal, along with seven hacksaw blades, a lantern and a holdall.

“Within the property they found the defendant, who was carrying an armful of metal pipes,” Ms Magill said.

Gibson told the officers: “The owner said I could have what I wanted,” the court heard.

Ian Hudson, defending, said: “He had entered through an open entrance and the building was already badly damaged. None of it [the damage] falls at his doorstep because the Crown have absolutely no proof it was him.”

Judge Tony Lancaster heard the defendant, of Swinton, Manchester had 191 previous offences to his name.