A serial burglar who raided a Brighton doughnut shop twice in just a few weeks has been sent back to prison.
James Jackson, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary from Crosstown Doughnuts in Sydney Street at Brighton Magistrates Court today.
He had only been released from prison for break-ins at other restaurants a few weeks before – and was already subject to another suspended sentence for yet more burglaries.
Jackson, of Glenwood Lodge, first broke into Crosstown Doughnuts first on Friday, 5 May then again on Monday, 22 May wearing the same clothes.
Prosecuting, Victoria Grey said that he gained entry through the back garden and a window, then smashed through a secure door.
He stole three iPads, a laptop and food of an unknown value. On the second occasion, he gained entry the same way and took a broken printer and food.
Crosstown Doughnuts sent a CCTV image of the man to the Business Crime Reduction Partnership.
Police identified Jackson from the image and the stolen property was found at the defendant’s address.
Defending, Rachel Lancaster said Jackson was suffering from an addiction to heroin.
Ms Lancaster said: “It’s pretty desperate stuff, to go to the same place twice and steal food.”
Jackson had been given a suspended sentence from March this year of six months imprisonment suspended for 12 months, having admitted burgling Dominos Pizza in St George’s Place, Brighton in October 2022 and damaging a Brighton Job Centre screen in February this year.
This sentence was activated, and he was sentenced to an additional six months for the two cases of burglary, to be served concurrently.
He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £150 and costs of £85 after his release from prison.
Jackson was previously jailed in November for breaking into Rafaello and Moshimo in Bartholomew Square in October.
He was found after the second break-in at Moshimo sleeping in a nearby tent, surrounded by alcohol he had stolen from the sushi restaurant.
Seems a bit self defeating sending this man to prison for short sentences over and over. He obviously needs treatment for his addiction & assistance to have a place to live and a purpose in life. Ultimately it costs more to keep doing nothing about his life circumstances and locking him up after he’s caused chaos and costs for businesses than it does to try to get the man’s life on a better track. It may sound ‘woke’ to some but it’s a fact
People need to get away with just using the word woke to dismiss a perfectly reasoned point like you have here, Iain. Absolutely, there needs to be a stronger focus on rehabitation of offenders. The academic evidence suggests this significantly improves outcomes and drops reoffending. This person’s environment, living on the street is not going to help matters and it not conductive towards a better standard of living.