An Aberdeen jewellery thief who ransacked a shop because he wanted “to go back to prison” has been granted his wish.
Derek Ellington, 38, burst into the reception of the Premier Inn on North Anderson Drive and demanded that hotel staff call the police because he had just broken into a nearby hairdressers.
As the police arrived, Ellington handed over two jewellery boxes – each of which contained a silver necklace – stating that he’d stolen them and demanding to be sent back to prison.
Officers also found a number of lollipops concealed in his pocket.
However, despite his assurances in the aftermath of his crimes, Ellington’s defence solicitor, Christopher Maitland, told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that his client now wanted to be free.
But Sheriff Philip Mann was unmoved and sent Ellington back to prison to serve out a year of an unexpired sentence and added additional time to it.
Accused immediately admitted crime to police
Fiscal depute Andrew McMann told the court that at around 1.10am on October 31 last year, police received a call from a staff member at the Premier Inn concerning a man who was demanding that police attend.
Constables turned up and found Ellington standing outside the hotel in possession of a blue jewellery box and a green jewellery box, each with a silver necklace inside.
Ellington approached them and immediately admitted breaking into The Barbers Pole, on Summerhill Court, Aberdeen.
“I’ve broken into the hairdressers and taken the boxes from there,” he stated.
As he was cautioned and detained, a search of his jacket found a number of lollipops within his pockets that he had also stolen from the shop.
As he was being led to a police vehicle, Ellington told the officer he had broken into the barber’s shop “because I want to go back to prison”.
He added that he had gone into the shop “to look for cash” but couldn’t find any, so he took the jewellery.
Ellington then led the officers to where he had broken through a glass-panelled door to gain entry to the premises.
“I smashed the bottom one,” he told them, referring to one of the glass panels.
The owner of The Barbers Pole estimated the damage to the door to be around £1,000, while the jewellery was believed to be worth around £120.
In the dock, Ellington pleaded guilty to one count of breaking into a commercial premises to steal items.
‘A pretty sad situation’
Defence solicitor Christopher Maitland told the court that his client admits that “the reason he did it is that he wanted to be sent back to prison”.
“He felt desperate on that day and then proceeded to act in such a way that it was clear what he was doing – it’s reflective of his desperate situation,” he said.
“Since he has been on remand in [relation to these offences] he has been doing work to cope with being released into the outside world.
“And it’s now his hope that an alternative to a custodial sentence could be imposed here.”
Sheriff Mann told Ellington: “This is a pretty sad situation to be in where you go out and commit crime just to get sent back to an institution.”
But the sheriff said he couldn’t overlook Ellington’s offending behaviour, which was so soon after his release from prison and was similar to his prior offences.
He sent Ellington back to HMP Grampian for a year and added five months on to that sentence for robbing the barbershop.
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