A WINDOW cleaner has been sentenced for a burglary he committed in 2006

  Law catches up with thief years later

A WINDOW cleaner has finally been sentenced for a burglary he committed nearly five years ago after he failed to answer his bail.

Karl Jones stole a vacuum cleaner from the warehouse at Aldi, Kidsgrove, in January 2006.
He admitted the charge and was due to be sentenced on March 31, 2006. But he did not attend court and has remained at large ever since.
Jones, aged 34, of Gordon Road, Goldenhill, pleaded guilty to failing to surrender to the custody of the court when he appeared at North Staffordshire Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Prosecutor Lynn Warrington said Jones had entered Aldi as a customer on January 30, 2006 but then went into the warehouse area and stole the vacuum cleaner, worth £34.99.
He left through a fire exit and activated an alarm.
The store manager studied the CCTV and recognised Jones.
The court was told the vacuum cleaner was never recovered.
Paul Hyatt, defending, said Jones committed the burglary because of his drug dependency but had now turned his life around.
He said: "He was on heroin at the time. He was a heroin addict for 10 years. But he lives with his brother and since 2006 he has worked as a window cleaner.
"He has kept out of trouble for five years and is off drugs."
Magistrates sentenced Jones to a 12-month community order with 120 hours' unpaid work and ordered him to pay £34.99 compensation to Aldi and £85 prosecution costs.

Source:http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Law-catches-thief-years-later/article-3053107-detail/article.html