Heroin addict avoids jail to tackle addiction
A judge has told a heroin addict, who tried to sell stolen jewellery, that he was not sending him to jail to give him a chance to try to tackle his addiction.
Sitting at Ipswich Crown Court, Judge Rupert Overbury, told convicted thief Andre McCall, who had appeared in court on 21 previous occasions in connection with 54 offences,“I don’t want to set you up to fail. I want to give you a chance to rid yourself of this addiction.”
McCall, 36, of Campbell Close, Mildenhall, had admitted fraud and handling jewellery stolen from the home of a US servicewoman and her daughter in the town.
The haul included items of great sentimental value including the woman’s grandmother’s wedding ring.
The court heard 15 items were eventually recovered but precious stones had been prised out of many and were missing.
McCall had sold some of the items to gold buyers in The Guineas shopping centre in Newmarket for £260, leaving the remainder under a false name.
Mitigating, Charles Myatt said McCall had not been involved in the original burglary. Judge Overbury told McCall that although a prison sentence was justified, he had already served the equivalent of 10 months behind bars. “If I jailed him he would be back on the streets in a month. I want to help him to break this cycle of offending,” said the judge.
McCall was given a 12-month community order with probation service supervision and a six-month drug rehabilitation order.
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Saturday 18 May 2013
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