SMITH: BURGLAR WHO STOLE £4K CAMERAS TO FEED FRUIT MACHINE ADDICTION JAILED FOR EIGHT MONTHS
A burglar who stole £4,300 of camera equipment to feed his addiction to fruit machines was jailed for eight months today (TUES).
Robert Smith, 28, targeted a marketing agency in London’s fashionable Shoreditch only three months after being released from prison.
He was still on licence when he casually strolled past reception and snatched a camera, three microphones and digital tapes from a storeroom next to the fire escape.
Smith got away before staff noticed the theft but was arrested after officers recognised him from CCTV footage.
He has seven previous convictions for burglary and was jailed for 30 months at Southwark Crown Court in February last year.
Smith, a father-of-two, was released on 17 April this year and carried out the burglary on 3 July.
When he was arrested on 28 July he asked officers ‘I’ve messed up’.
His barrister Christopher Johnson said that Smith had sought help from a psychologist for his gambling addiction.
‘He is addicted to betting on fruit machines. People who does this usually end up losing thousands of pounds of money, which is what he has been doing.
‘When he has debts he has been committing offences to support himself and pay his debts.
‘He cannot seem to get past this addiction.’
The judge, Mr Recorder Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, said: ‘As long as you are at liberty you are a problem, you are a risk.
‘The public needs to see that this type of offence is taken seriously. I doubt it is going to do much good to send you to prison but you have to go to prison.
‘You must seek help if you want it. If you don’t get that help, if you don’t find it in yourself then the courts will be here willing to add to your very long list of convictions.’
Smith, of no fixed address, admitted a single count of non-dwelling burglary.
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