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Addict smashed windows of store
Attack ... Karl Brooks damaged windows in a South Tyneside shop.
A DRUG addict smashed the windows of a South Tyneside furniture store, causing thousands of pounds of damage.
Karl Brooks, of Severn Drive, Jarrow, broke a glass panel at Beautiful Homes in King Street, South Shields, in the early hours of December 21.
He was arrested at the scene, but denied he was responsible for the damage.
The 40-year-old was due to stand trial over the criminal damage charge at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, but changed his plea to guilty at the last minute.
His solicitor said he had pleaded not guilty originally because he couldn’t remember doing it.
John McGlone, prosecuting, said the shop’s alarm sounded after the window was smashed, and when police officers got there Brooks was nearby.
Geoffrey Forrester, defending, said: “He has no recollection, but now that he has received the full evidence from the prosecution he has accepted their version of events.
“He has had drug problems over a substantial period of time, which he had worked through, but they have come back to haunt him.
“As a result, he has offended again.”
Mr Forrester told the court that Brooks had been hit hard by his father’s death in November, and he recently had some bad news about his teenage daughter.
He added: “Along the way, he has been approached by people asking him to do drugs, and he has started drinking again.
“He accepts he committed this offence and has now pleaded guilty.”
Magistrates heard from the probation service that Brooks has ‘long-standing issues with heroin’, and he is already subject to a community order which bans him from entering the Co-op in Dean Road, South Shields.
He was given a 12-month community order and he was told to complete a drug rehabilitation course.
No compensation was awarded to the store.
Last year, Brooks was jailed for 12 months after raiding the empty home of a dead person. He broke into the house in Redberry Way, South Shields, on January 23.
Brooks claimed he had been asked by the owner of the house to climb through a window because his girlfriend had ran off with the keys.
He was arrested as he walked away from the property with two carrier bags full of tools and DVD cases.
Police found a kitchen window was smashed, kitchen cupboards pulled out and a quilt put in the bath where taps had been left running.
He also stole a TV, a picture and a mirror, which were later recovered when his father rang police to say he had found them dumped in his garden.
During that case, Newcastle Crown Court heard he had 113 offences on his record and 57 convictions.
Twitter: @ShieldsGazCrime
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Weather for Jarrow
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
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