A HEROIN addict who admitted handling stolen goods has been jailed for 17 weeks.
Joshua Williams, 21, was caught on CCTV in Wrexham town centre carrying a guitar and bass amp worth about £2,000, which police knew to be stolen.
He claimed he had found the items and had intended to hand them in at Wrexham Police Station but then decided to keep them for himself.
Justin Espie, prosecuting, explained the incident revolved around musical equipment which was stolen from a car parked outside Grove Park Theatre in Hill Street, Wrexham, on December 27.
“The victim left his car secure but when he returned a window had been smashed and the items taken.
“The defendant was later seen by police with another man.
“He originally gave false details and was arrested.”
Williams, of no fixed abode, also told police he had a heroin addiction he could not afford.
There was nothing to link him to the original theft but he admitted handling stolen goods and a separate offence of failing to attend court for an earlier hearing on February 1.
Henry Hills, defending, said Williams “presented a paradox”.
“On the one hand he’s a pleasant individual and is to a large extent co-operative,” he said.
“But on the other hand there’s clearly a lot of chaos in his life.
“He’s on the cusp now of getting the revolving door syndrome where he commits a crime, goes to prison, gets out and commits another crime.”
A spokesman for the probation service told magistrates there were no community sentence options available to Williams because he had no fixed abode, no means of income and had shown no commitment to work with the probation service.
Williams was sentenced to 16 weeks for the handling stolen goods charge and seven days for failing to surrender, which were aggravated by his poor previous record.