Cwmbran – Man who has committed 223 offences back in jail

Serial thief Kevin Bennett, 48, took bicycles from a garage at a family’s home, tried the doors of properties, stole a handbag from a car and used stolen bank cards to buy alcohol.

The drug addict committed the nine offences on February 25, prosecutor Tabitha Walker said.

Bennett was arrested after he was caught by an off-duty police officer.

The defendant gave a no comment interview to detectives.

In a victim impact statement, one of the complainants described feeling “uncomfortable after someone rifled through my personal belongings.

Another victim revealed how the defendant’s crime against him had left him suffering from “anxiety and stress”.

Bennett, of Hillside Avenue, Blaenavon pleaded guilty to burglary, attempted burglary, vehicle interference and fraud.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how the offences were committed shortly after he had been handed an eight-month suspended prison sentence for theft-related offences that included attempted shoplifting.

Of his 223 previous offences, Miss Walker said 85 were for “theft or kindred offences” and six were for fraud.

The defendant’s barrister Sol Hartley asked the judge, Recorder Christian Jowett, to give his client the appropriate 25 per cent discount for his guilty pleas.

His lawyer added how the defendant had a “long-standing drug addiction” which he was trying to overcome.

Bennett, he added, was working in the prison kitchen following his remand into custody following his arrest.

There was no application for a pre-sentence report with the defence accepting that an immediate jail term was inevitable.

Recorder Jowett jailed the defendant for six months for the offences committed in February and he passed a consecutive sentence of six months for being in breach of his suspended sentence.

The total term was 12 months in prison of which Bennett should serve no more than half in custody.

He will have to pay a victim surcharge following his release.