Prison for burglary and spate of thefts

Friday 22 September 2023

A 23-year-old who burgled a shop on the Bridge earlier this summer, and stole various goods from supermarkets, as well as assaulting an elderly family member, has been jailed for 14-months.

Carson Lee Le Prevost committed the string of offences between 24 June and 12 August this year, Crown Advocate Fiona Russell told the Magistrate’s Court.

The final and most severe was when he smashed the window of Tozer’s on the Bridge with a rock and stole vapes, drinks, chocolate, and a notepad at around 01:30. The break-in triggered alarms, with the store owner able to watch live CCTV footage of the incident on his phone.  

It was one of three offences committed while on bail for the first offence, where Le Prevost had grabbed and threw an elderly relative onto a table causing minor injuries on 24 June.

Less than two months later, Le Prevost entered the Co-op Halfway garage in the late evening of 4 August and walked out the door with alcohol and other goods without paying and told staff pursuing him he would pay the next day.

On 11 August he did the same at Admiral Parks’ Iceland, taking various bottles of alcohol and soft drink. He told staff who pursued him in the car park that he was “going back to prison” soon and didn’t care.

He burgled Tozer’s hours later.

Above: The owner of Tozer's shared the CCTV footage on social media.

The Prosecution requested compensation for the stolen goods, and a total of £504.40 for the damage and inconvenience caused by the burglary.

Advocate Liam Roffey, defending, said his client would be unable to pay owing to his homelessness which saw him residing in a tent.

Le Prevost has not had an “easy life” with various serious mental health problems and disruption to his education and home life, he added. 

He said it was a “rare occasion” where his instructions were to just acknowledge the “inevitability” of a prison sentence. Le Prevost had made no attempt to hide his identity throughout, he said.

Advocate Roffey said he had felt “much better” after being remanded in custody since 14 August.

Judge Gary Perry noted that Le Prevost had a high likelihood of reoffending with a poor previous record.

“I have sympathy with the situation you find yourself in, but there is help available,” he said, adding that services and support available at the prison would eventually stop once time was served. 

He was sentenced to four months for the assault, two months each for the supermarket thefts, and six months for the burglary, to run consecutively, creating the total sentence of 14-months.

Compensation wasn’t ordered.