A serial thief who broke into cars to steal their contents fled Newcastle Magistrates' Court when he realised he was about to be locked up. Ian Carr, 39, had appeared in the dock to admit his latest crime spree, which saw him target several vehicles in Gosforth while carrying a knife and a hammer.
Carr, described by the Probation Service as a "high risk offender", helped himself to a number of items, including sunglasses, a smart watch, shoes, jewellery, a wallet, a bank card, a driving licence, headphones, a laser pen, £15 in cash, a bike and a battery pack, a court heard. A suspicious resident spotted what Carr was doing and phoned the police, who detained Carr nearby and retrieved all the stolen goods.
Court Appearance and Escape
The thief, who has 169 offences on his record and is of no fixed abode, appeared at Newcastle Magistrates' Court on bail this week to plead guilty to possession of a knife, vehicle interference, handling stolen goods, possession of class C drugs and going equipped for theft. He was sent to the waiting room whilst the magistrates deliberated his sentence.
However, when Carr heard that his case was being moved to a court room with a secure dock, he realised he was going to be getting locked up and fled the building. He was given a 35-week prison sentence and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Details of the Offences
Outlining the case, Jasmine Dodds, prosecuting, said a resident on Grove Park Crescent, in Gosforth, looked out his window on October 10 and saw Carr trying the doors of cars, including the witness's Range Rover. Carr then targeted more vehicles on nearby Station Road.
Miss Dodds continued: "Luckily, the witness's vehicle was not accessed but other vehicles were. The police attended the area and found the defendant in possession of the stolen items." She added: "He also had a hammer and a knife, which he'd used to gain access to the vehicles. Pregabalin was also found on him. All the stolen items were recovered given that the defendant was found with them."
Background and Sentencing
The court heard that Carr had numerous previous convictions for stealing from cars and appeared to have an "MO of targeting vehicles". He was also subject of a community order, which had only been imposed two weeks earlier for similar offending.
Mark Humble, defending, said: "Mr Carr has a long-standing problem with drug misuse over a number of years. He had only just started his community order when these offences were committed." An update from the Probation Service said Carr was not complying well with his community order and had been heightened from a medium risk offender to a high risk one. Magistrates gave Carr a 35-week prison sentence and ordered him to pay a £187 victim surcharge.
