Arrest warrant issued for teenage thief (From Swindon Advertiser)

Arrest warrant issued for teenage thief

10:20am Thursday 25th October 2012 in News

A JUDGE has issued a warrant for the arrest of a teenage metal thief after he failed to turn up at court to face a charge that he breached his community order.

Danny Norris is accused of failing to do unpaid work which was imposed after he admitted a charge of burglary.

The 19-year-old, of St Mary's Grove, Gorse Hill, was due to appear at Swindon Crown Court over the allegation, but when he did not attend Judge Douglas Field issued a warrant for his arrest and detention to bring him before the court.

Norris was caught after an eagle-eyed police inspector was suspicious to see him carrying a heavy bag on Chapel Street in the dead of night in February.

The officer drove round the block for another look then stopped him, where he found the teenager and two accomplices had copper piping stripped from a disused building.

He had been carrying a large black bag containing the metal which had been taken from a disused former call centre on nearby Gipsy Lane. The building, which is owned by the National Grid, had been broken into in the past and the front door was boarded up. Armed with a drill and crowbar the trio broke through the wooden barrier and went into a kitchen area taking copper worth £99 and causing over £50 worth of damage.

The court was told Norris had never been in trouble before, lived at home with his parents and worked as a kitchen hand at a national outlet. The court ordered him to do 250 hours unpaid work, pay £149.24p compensation and £250 costs.