Teen sentenced for television set theft

Sunday 04 August 2024

A 19-year-old man who broke into a flat he had been evicted from and stole a television set has been sentenced to 18 months in youth detention.

Charles Nicholas Betts was also sentenced for being drunk and disorderly, and being found in possession of a stolen motorbike.

Betts, who admitted illegal entry and theft, broke into the flat by smashing a window on 6 January, the Royal Court heard.

Advocate Taylor, prosecuting, said a neighbour spotted Betts emerging from the property with a television and attempted to confront him before he fled the scene.

Betts was arrested in the early hours of 7 January at the Charing Cross Premier Inn, where the police found the television in his room.

Advocate Taylor explained that Betts initially denied the theft but forensic evidence linked him to the crime.

Footprints matching his Nike trainers were found at the scene, and glass fragments from the broken window were discovered on his shoes.

In addition to the burglary, Betts was convicted of receiving a stolen Yamaha IT175 motorcycle that was reported missing on 6 December.

When confronted about the motorcycle, Advocate Taylor said Betts gave conflicting accounts.

The defendant initially claimed he had owned it for ten years, then said he had purchased it three to four years ago.

The court also heard details of two incidents where Betts behaved aggressively in public while intoxicated.

Advocate Taylor said that police officers responded to an altercation at Snow Hill last year, where Betts was reportedly harassing a woman.

When officers attempted to intervene, Betts swore at them and claimed he could say anything he wanted due to "freedom of speech".

In a separate incident in January, Betts verbally abused and threatened a hotel receptionist who refused to give him a refund for a breakfast he did not eat, Advocate Taylor said.

Advocate Nicholas Mière, defending, argued for community service, which he said would allow Betts to "give back to the community" and put him on the path to a "meaningful life".

Betts "realised he needs help" and was "genuinely remorseful", the advocate said.

But Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae, presiding, pointed to Betts' history of non-compliance with previous court orders when delivering the sentence.

Mr MacRae acknowledged that while Betts was an adult, he was still protected under the young offenders law, which stipulates that custodial sentences should only be used as a "last resort".

"We have no doubt you are unwilling to respond to a community service or probation order," he said.

He added that he hoped that Betts would take advantage of assistance offered by the Probation Service during his detention.

Mr MacRae said: "Unlike most young offenders the court sees, you have two supportive parents who have stood by you and given you significant financial resources."

He added that the prison chaplain believed Betts could, with the right focus, "develop into a mature person who could make something of his life".

The total sentence of 18 months' youth detention took into account all of Betts' offences, and the fact that Betts had already spent 152 days on remand.

Jurats Jane Ronge and Andrew Cornish were sitting.