Worksop: Suspended sentence for teenage thief

Declan Wilson, 18, stole a mountain bike valued at £300 from a shed to the rear of a property on Gateford Road.

At Worksop Magistrates’ Court, he also admitted stealing earthing wire from two bungalows in the town and the attempted theft of wire from a third.

Police arrested Wilson after catching him near the buildings with wire cutters in his pocket and the stolen wire in his bag.

He initially told the police he had cut the wire from scrap fridges.

But he then changed his story and admitted he had stolen the wire from the bungalows to sell on as scrap.

He then co-operated with police and took them back to the buildings he had stolen the wire from to show them where he had been.

Defending, Mr David Verity said: “He accepts what he did was wrong. He had been intending to sell the wire for scrap to raise money to pay board to his parents.”

District judge Diane Baker said: “You planned these crimes and went equipped to carry them out.”

“However, you have co-operated fully with the police and deserve credit for that.”

Wilson was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for a year and ordered to pay £300 compensation for the stolen mountain bike. He was also ordered to do 100 hours unpaid work and given a curfew from 8pm to 5pm each day for the next eight weeks.