Plan B Forum

A teenager who burgled almost 700 properties during a £1million crime spree because he enjoyed the 'buzz' of stealing was finally jailed yesterday.

Bradley Wernham, 19, was caught trying to break into a house just three months after a judge had spared him prison to give him a 'second chance'.

The case is embarrassing for Justice Secretary Ken Clarke, who controversially wants to see more emphasis on rehabilitation so fewer criminals can be jailed.

Yesterday, jailing Wernham for five years, Judge Christopher Ball, QC, insisted he had originally been right to 'gamble' by enrolling the thief on a taxpayer-funded rehabilitation scheme that provided him with a rent-free flat and job training.

Astonishingly, police yesterday hailed the 'innovative' approach taken with Wernham as a 'success' and said they would continue to use it.

Critics, including the teenager's victims and an MP, reacted with disbelief that Wernham had been allowed to strike again, describing the decision not to jail him first time round as 'ridiculous'.

Engineer Tim Marsland, 39, who had his £2,500 Kawasaki ZX6R motorcycle and equipment stolen by Wernham, said: If you don't get locked up for 700 burglaries what do you have to do? It was totally ridiculous - it was a joke that he got let off.

'It's a better result now. He is where he belongs. I know he won't serve anything like five years but maybe a bit of time in prison will sort him out a bit.'

Wernham gave some indication of the level of his readiness to reform with a bragging message posted on his Facebook page last night.

The badly spelt message - sent six hours after he was jailed - read: 'Be out in 18 months or before.. Yeeh is guna ride this s**t'.'

Wernham was branded one of Britain's most prolific thieves when he admitted 17 burglaries and thefts and asked for 645 others to be taken into account when he first appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex in October 2009. He already had convictions for 26 other offences, bringing the total to 688 crimes.

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Serial shoplifter from Rhyl is jailed again

A serial shoplifter has been sent back to jail, a day after let out on early release, after he stole a charity collection box.

David Archer, 55, of Rhyl, Denbighshire, had 325 previous convictions.

He appeared before magistrates in Llandudno and pleaded guilty to breaching an anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) which bans him from handling charity boxes.

He was sent to prison for 26 weeks.

He will also have to serve an unexpired 52 days of his previous term.

The court was told that the day after his early release from prison, he went into a shop at St Asaph, picked up a charity box and put it inside his coat.

When a woman assistant protested, he put it back, the prosecution said.

Archer's solicitor said he had claimed to have put cash into the box and wasn't trying to steal it.

When arrested he had £300 on him which he said he'd won on a roulette wheel at a betting shop.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-10903406