Cheap guitar theft lands persistent Shrewsbury thief in jail
A man who was using a "legal high" drug has been sentenced to more than a year in prison for stealing a guitar worth just £50 from a town wine merchant.
Lee Davies of Castle Foregate, Shrewsbury had been convicted of a string of offences only weeks before, when he made off with a cheap acoustic guitar from an unlocked store room at Tanners Wine Merchant on Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury.
Caught on CCTV trying doors around courtyard in broad daylight and leaving with the guitar in a black bin bag, he was arrested two hours later and told police: "I know where it is, it's not been sold and I can get it back if you forget about it."
But the opportunistic crime cost the 31-year-old dearly, as it meant a 12-month suspended sentence for six thefts, drug possession and five counts of criminal damage from the past year was reactivated.
He was jailed for 62 weeks, including 10 weeks for the Tanners theft.
He pleaded guilty to all the previous offences when he was sentenced on December 2.
Davies was at Shrewsbury Crown Court again this week, pleading guilty to the Tanners burglary, having been in custody since the theft on January 9.
But he appeared without a solicitor to represent him, telling Judge Robin Onions: "I just want to get it sorted."
Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said the guitar was from Tanners' large window display that is well known in the town.
He said Davies had recently been experiencing some mental health problems which were amplified by his use of a legal high called Psyclone.
Judge Onions said: "Of all the things to steal from a wine merchant, an acoustic guitar doesn't seem the most obvious."
"When you come out, give yourself a chance – you can't go on like this I'm afraid," the judge added.
