Guernsey Press

'Island has no use for people like you' - Judge tells jewellry burglar

GUERNSEY has 'no use for burglars' and 'no use for people who abuse the island's hospitality', a judge said yesterday as he sentenced a Portsmouth man to three-and-a-half-years in prison.

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Judge Russell Finch made it clear that while it was not in the Royal Court's power to recommend the deportation of a British citizen, Mason Turner, who burgled Martin & Martin Designer Goldsmith in August, was no longer welcome in the island.

The 23-year-old, who admitted the offence, had a number of previous convictions from a short time spent in the island as well as in the UK, some of which related to the London riots.

Jurats spent less than 20 minutes deciding sentence.

Turner, also known by the surname Piggott, had cycled into the Commercial Arcade on 11 August before breaking the window of the jeweller and taking items worth £11,836.

A rock was found below the smashed window.

Judge Finch said members of the court gave Turner little credit as more than £9,000-worth of the items were still missing and the defendant had made no comment as to where they were.

Until Turner learned to give up a life of crime, the courts had to protect the public from him, Judge Finch said.

'This is a high value burglary carried out by a person with recent relevant convictions,' he said.

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