Burglar caught in Worksop pub after cutting hole in roof

A Worksop man who broke into a town centre pub by cutting a hole through the roof was trapped when the landlord returned unexpectedly and locked him in, a court heard.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

Prosecutor Robert Carr described how the landlord of the Glasshouse pub, on Bridge Place, came back to the premises which were shut, at 10.30pm, on a Sunday night, to collect personal items.

“He went into the main bar and said it didn’t feel right. There was a set of boltcroppers on a stool and he saw that a fruit machine had been moved.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“He heard a noise and immediately went out and locked the door and called the police.”

Officers found Shaun Hansen hiding in the bar, with tools that belonged to the landlord.

They saw he had emptied some small paper cups left for staff tips, and had cut a hole in the roof, but the cost of repairs had not yet been assessed.

Hansen, 39, of Cambria Terrace, admitted the non-dwelling burglary, of November 12, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Thursday.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He was last before the court in September for criminal damage, which put him in breach of a suspended sentence order, added Mr Carr.

Probation officer Sarah Phillips said Hansen had been doing “okay” on the order, but was still using heroin and amphetamine.

David Grant, mitigating, said Hansen was “a long-standing heroin user”, who had been using the heroin substitute Subutex.

He said that last year Hansen had got some stable accommodation, but got into difficulties with a craft knife which led to a suspended sentence.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A “relatively minor” conviction for criminal damage saw Hansen sent to prison for six weeks, he said, where Hansen was put on methadone, with the result that, “he came out with a problem.”

“It has clearly triggered this offending,” said Mr Grant. “He accepts being caught doing the job.”

District judge Andrew Meachin told Hansen: “You clearly planned it. You broke in and caused substantial damage. You have a record that speaks for itself. Custody is inevitable.”

He jailed Hansen for 16 weeks and ordered him to pay £120 compensation to the landlord “as a token gesture towards the damage, which probably cost a lot more.”

Related topics: