Jail sentence suspended.

A HONITON burglar, who caused thousands of pounds worth of damage when he broke into The Co-operative in Lace Walk, has avoided jail.

James Collinwood David Trower, from Marwood Place ,was given a three month suspended sentence by Central Devon Magistrates’ Court for his part in a burglary, which took place on Thursday, November 25.

The 30-year-old entered the retail outlet with an accomplice in the early hours of the morning where he proceeded to steal four Sanyo digital cameras, a Toshiba 32 inch flat screen television, 21 bottles of various spirits and Champagne and two chocolate bars, which were valued at �840.

Sonya Oldakowska, for the prosecution, said: “It was a burglary with another male at the Co-op in Lace Walk, breaking the glass doors using a wheelie bin to get through the glass and take items from that site.”

The court also heard that Trower had returned several times to the site and, when questioned, initially denied the charges until being shown CCTV footage from the scene.

The items stolen were later recovered by police at the scene.

Miss Oldakowska added: “He does have previous convictions for burglary and thefts from shops.”

The damage caused to the supermarket’s doors, which was estimated at more than �8,000, will require a full refit.

The chairman of the bench, James Gillam, said: “We have read the report and a letter from his mother and feel this is an offence that is so serious that custody is the only suitable option. Based on the nature of the offence, which was carried out under the influence of drugs and alcohol and your history of offending and history of significant offences, we are making a suspended sentence order for a period of eight weeks, which would have been 12 weeks but as an early plea was entered...

“Taking into account your financial circumstances, there will be no order of compensation.”

Trower will have to undergo specialist rehabilitation training and will be entered into the Thinking Skills programme for 12 months.

In addition to these conditions a curfew will also remain in place for a further three months.

l Detectives in Honiton say Trower was caught almost immediately thanks to good police work by response officers who attended the scene of the burglary.