Serial thief with 23 convictions jailed after being spotted in garden

Neighbours alerted police after spotting Anthony Kemp and another man in the garden of a house whose occupants were away on holiday, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

Both intruders were masked and tried to escape as officers arrived at the scene in Fairlawn Close, Willenhall, on September 3, explained Miss Joanne Barker, prosecuting.

Kemp had to be Tasered before he could be detained and a search of a holdall he was carrying revealed gloves, a crowbar and a number of other items used by burglars.

The 37-year-old, who had 23 previous convictions involving 80 separate offences, many for dishonesty, tested positive for Class A drugs and had a wrap of heroin with him.

He had been given a chance four months earlier when a court suspended a 16-month sentence imposed after he attempted to burgle a house but was forced to flee empty-handed after disturbing neighbours in the area.

Mr Oliver Woolhouse, defending, said that Kemp had struggled with a drug addiction for many years and wanted to be given another chance by the court.

The defendant, from Birmingham Street, Willenhall, pleaded guilty to going equipped for burglary and possession of heroin and was jailed by Judge Simon Ward who warned that a three-year automatic sentence – imposed because of his criminal record if he commits another burglary – had been hanging over his head for some time.

He continued: “You seem determined to go to prison for three years because it is only through luck that you have not managed it yet.

“You tried to burgle somebody in May this year and the court was persuaded to give you a chance to stop burgling people’s houses.

“Then on September 3 you and another man were out equipped for burglary and if the neighbours had not spotted you it is inevitable that you would have broken into the property.”

The other man who was arrested at the scene is scheduled to be dealt with by another court.