Gage James Saville (25) took a bag of stones and smashed ten panes of glass at the Royal Court, before climbing inside.
He admitted two counts of malicious damage and one of breaking and entering with intent.
Delivering the sentence, Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae said: ‘At 25 years old, for a relatively young man you have amassed a substantial criminal record.
‘The court gives you full credit for your early guilty pleas. We are unable to give you a probation order because your offences are so serious and because of previous non-compliance with the probation service.’
Crown Advocate Richard Pedley, prosecuting, told the court that at 12.30am on 24 December, Saville rode his bike from Snow Hill to the Royal Square, with a bag of rocks in his possession.
He smoked cannabis, before he began to throw rocks at a number of windows of the Royal Court, smashing ten panes of glass.
A number of witnesses heard the noise and reported the incident to the police.
One saw him climb through one of the smashed windows. While inside, Saville threw a historic chair down stairs and damaged a display case.
He also went into the judicial secretary’s office and left blood marks on paperwork.
Police entered the building and a struggle ensued with Saville, before a police dog was released and he was restrained.
Crown Advocate Pedley added that the full extent of the damage to the building was not known, with initial estimates stating £11,000, although the final cost may be higher. He added Saville was annoyed with ‘the system’, but not the government or the judiciary and did not have anti-authoritarian views.
‘The fact this was a premeditated attack on a court house because he saw it as a symbol of authority is an aggravating factor,’ the Crown Advocate said.
The Crown moved for a prison sentence of 28 months.
Advocate Julia-Anne Dix, defending, said it was not a premeditated attack and the incident was a cry for help.
She said: ‘He wanted to do something to get help, it was between local businesses, a government building or a person.’
She added that her client needed help to address some of the issues he had faced during his life, saying that he felt that he had been ‘let down by the system’.
Advocate Dix added her client would not get the help he needed in prison, adding: ‘This is a very sad case because the offences were clearly a desperate cry for help. If he doesn’t get help, there is a real risk he will be back before the court.’
Jurats Jane Ronge and Jerry Ramsden were sitting.
