A man’s been jailed or stealing cream cheese, salmon and booze from his neighbour.
Alcoholic William Gifford pleaded guilty to burglary when he appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on 10 August – putting him in breach of a suspended sentence order for similar crimes.
The 39-year-old, of Charlton House near Malmesbury, entered a cottage in Hankerton – less than a mile from his countryside home – and took numerous food and drink items.
During the theft on 8 August, he stole two bottles of Champagne, one bottle of Prosecco, 500 grams of salmon and a small tub of cream cheese.
Back in March, Gifford admitted four counts of burglary and was handed a 24-week prison sentence suspended for one year.
At the time, his solicitor Mark Glendenning said his client had been struggling with alcoholism for many years, whilst probation officer Clare Hyde told the court that he had made “very good progress”.
Citing a “flagrant disregard for court orders”, magistrates activated his suspended sentence but reduced it to 18 weeks and imposed a further 14 week prison sentence to run consecutively. He will serve half in custody.
