Jail for fishing gear burglar caught by neighbors
A burglar was caught in the act of taking fishing nets from a shed, then locked in a kitchen by sharp-eyed neighbors.
Nathan Bourton, 39, whose appalling record of breaking and entering was linked to a long-time drug addiction, has been urged to continue the positive work he started in drug treatment centers in 2019 and since being remanded in custody from 2019. ‘August.
Throwing him back for 21 months on Friday, Judge Ian Pringle QC told him: ‘You have to put yourself in an environment that gives you a real chance to get rid of this [addiction]. You will be 40 in January – let life begin for you then.
Earlier, prosecutor Cathy Olliver told Oxford Crown Court that Bourton, who in 2019 was given a drug rehab order but fell from the wagon, was caught breaking into a shed of a house in Cricket Road , Oxford, on the night of August 2.
The shed contained expensive fishing gear – but it was sharp-eyed neighbors who nabbed Bourton after hearing him in the outhouse.
The scammer, who had a Stanley knife in his pocket but did not pull it out, was held up in a kitchen by the brave neighbors until police arrived to arrest the abusive burglar.
Mitigating Kellie Enever asked the judge to impose the sentence that her client would find more difficult – and instead of incarcerating him to subject the repeat offender to a community order or a suspended sentence.
‘Mr Bourton should not have the easiest option, which is police custody, because with the utmost respect he can spend time standing on his head,’ the lawyer said.
He was doing well thanks to a lengthy drug rehabilitation order, which was given to him by Judge Peter Ross in 2019, but suffered relapses after his father died in March 2020.
Since his pre-trial detention, he had taken a number of courses and no longer took drugs.
Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Pringle said: ‘I have a duty, Mr Bourton, to make sure that we give people chances when we can, but I also have a duty to realize that it costs the money and you need funding for it. [rehabilitation places].
“Ultimately it’s you. However, many agencies come to help you and some of them are extremely important, it’s ultimately you who decides if you’re going to get rid of your addiction and I’m sure you understand it.
“Yes,” Bourton replied from the dock.
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