Career criminal jailed for Newtown College burglary
A man with previous convictions for 349 offences has been jailed for four years after he was found guilty of a burglary at a college and assaulting a caretaker who confronted him.
Judge Niclas Parry told Stuart Jones that his case was awash with aggravating features.
Jones had planned the burglary at Newtown College and had travelled from the West Midlands to Mid Wales to commit the offence.
He was disguised, was acting jointly with another and he had armed himself with weapons which he found at the scene.
Judge Parry, sitting at Mold Crown Court, said that caretaker James McBride had described Jones as the leader.
He said that Mr McBride had tried everything that he could to persuade Jones to see reason.
“But you attacked him and left him injured,” the judge said.
Jones, 41, of Crown Walk in Tipton, Sandwell, had a ‘shocking criminal record’ with 349 offences – over 100 of them for dishonesty. He had countless burglaries over the decades.
Richard Edwards, prosecuting, said during the early hours of August 20 last year a burglary occurred at Newtown College.
The caretakers, James McBride and Carl Mullinder, attended to the activation of the alarm.
They found two men in the carpentry department, hoods up, trying to conceal their identities.
One male jumped towards James McBride while brandishing a hammer, then shouted “hit him Billy.”
The second male then struck Mr McBride over the head with what Mr McBride thought was a screwdriver.
They then ran from the college.
Mr Edwards said that a police investigation showed that an advertisement for the sale of a Seat Leon was listed by Jones on an online sale site.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras identified that vehicle travelled towards the Newton area late on August 19
During the early hours of the morning of August 20 the vehicle was in the Newtown, Llanidloes area and later the vehicle was heading out of the Mid Wales area towards the West Midlands.
Jones denied being involved and his barrister, Hunter Gray, said that his client denied being at the Mid Wales college at all.
But he was convicted by the jury.
