A MAN with 159 previous offences to his name, who smashed a communal door at the entrance to a block of flats, has been jailed for six weeks and ordered to pay £400 for the damage.
The Magistrate’s Court heard this week that Scott Leonard Charles Furlong (37) had turned up at the flats at 9pm on 24 April to speak to someone inside.
Legal adviser Harrison Gollop, prosecuting, said: ‘[The person] saw that he was unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred. They thought he was going to kick off.’
Mr Gollop added that the person in the flats called the police.
It was then that Furlong began to smash the door. ‘There was loud banging. Pieces of glass and wood were flying around,’ Mr Gollop said.
Furlong was arrested at 9.13pm. Mr Gollop said: ‘He told officers it wasn’t him. The following day he admitted it. He said he had had eight cans of Carling but wasn’t drunk.’
He added that Furlong had 159 previous offences, 30 of which involved property, most recently in December. He pleaded guilty to maliciously damaging the door.
Advocate Christina Hall, defending, said Furlong would pay the £400 if he was in work.
She said he had ‘a very difficult background’ and added: ‘While he has a long history of offending, he feels he is making improvements in that regard. He does wish to stay out of trouble.
‘He recognises he is at an age where he really needs to sort things out.
‘He wants to leave custody and seek employment. The chances of him reoffending are very small.’
Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris imposed a restraining order for three years, barring Furlong from contacting the person in the flats in any way, in addition to the jail term and the payment for the damage.
He told him: ‘Yet again alcohol played a part in it.
‘Until such time as you get your drinking under control, you are going to put yourself in this position time and time again.’
He added: ‘You’re a 37-year-old man. You really should be trying to make a change.’
He recognised that Furlong would be looking for work on his release and granted him six months from the start of any new employment to pay the £400.
