Benjamin Anderson given 12 month community order with 80 hours unpaid work

Benjamin Anderson, 20, of Hilda Street, Heywood has been given a 12 month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to two counts of theft.

Anderson was already three months into a suspended sentence when police caught him with a stolen Samsung television from the Tesco supermarket in Rawtenstall.

When officers interviewed him he admitted to stealing the television along with a second one the previous day as he “wasn’t receiving any money”. 

He pleaded guilty to two counts of theft at Burnley Crown Court but recorder Raymond Herman said he would give him “one final chance” at avoiding jail.

The court heard how PC Billington was driving down Bury Road in Rawtenstall on 2 July when she saw Anderson carrying a large box with the word ‘Samsung’ written on it.

PC Billington was aware of a similar theft the previous day and suspected that Anderson might be the thief or was stealing again. It is understood that Anderson had stolen a television worth £220 and had sold it for half the price to raise money.

When interviewed by the police, he told them that he was getting “depressed and going through a hard time” and that if they hadn’t had stopped him, he would have sold the second television.

He also told police that he “felt stupid and regretted his actions” but needed money to live on. The court also heard that the offences had
taken place after Anderson had broken up with his girlfriend but they were now back together.

As part of his sentencing, it was also ordered that Anderson’s current suspended sentence be upheld until April 2015.