Hunch foils burglary and puts Wolverhampton thief behind bars
A hunch foiled a burglary and put the culprit behind bars for two years after a motorist spotted a man acting suspiciously as she drove past.
She alerted the occupant who was out at the time and dashed back to the address in Stafford Road, Bushbury, to find the man tampering with the property’s CCTV system, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
The woman phoned her brother who arrived to find Tahj Mills wearing gloves and using a broom, both of which had been taken from the porch which had been left open to allow a parcel to be delivered, revealed Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting.
He kept Mills, 23, talking while police were alerted and reached the scene around 4pm on March 21.
CCTV footage showed the defendant opening the parcel that had been left in the porch – the front door was locked – but he did not take the package.
The defendant said he had been working at the address at the request of the owner which was quickly dismissed and a scuffle broke as they arrested him leading to him being Tasered, the court was told.
Mr Searle explained: "The defendant tensed up as they tried to put handcuffs on him and pushed them against a fence throwing one of the officers to the ground. A Taser was deployed but he continued to act aggressively."
Mills also stamped on the hand of the other officer and tried to punch him before being Tasered a second time and finally restrained.
He pleaded not guilty to trespassing with intent to burgle and assaulting the two police officers who both suffered slight injuries.
Mills said he had been working as a gardener at the address and maintained he had suffered violence at the hands of the police but was found guilty of assault and trespassing with intent to burgle by magistrates and was sent toCrown Court for sentence.
Mr Simon Burch, defending, said there was little he could say about the 23-year-old father of one because he would not engage in conversation - claiming to have lost his voice as a result of the Taser strikes - and wrote notes on pieces of paper.
Mills, of no fixed address with previous convictions for robbery, violent disorder and assault, was given a two-year prison sentence by Judge Barry Berlin who said: "You have an appalling record for someone of your age.
"I am quite certain you wanted to disable the security device at the address and you also violently resisted arrest."
