A DIGLIS man ‘saw red’ after his bike was stolen for a third time and smashed the CCTV cameras watching the area, a court has heard.
James Roberts, of Pollard Court in Basin Road, destroyed the cameras which belong to Mainstay Residential Limited outside the block of flats he lives in at 12.45am on July 27.
The 33-year-old was seen hitting the equipment, worth £825, repeatedly with a hammer so police attended the area and identified him before he was arrested.
Roberts had become angered with the property management company after two of his bikes had previously been stolen from the site and despite contacting them about it nothing further happened, Worcester Magistrates Court was told last Friday (September 12).
Sat Bains, defending solicitor, said: “He was incredibly frustrated as two very expensive bikes had been stolen one after the other.
“Both times he reported it to the police and both times approaches had been made to this company so it could be investigated further, but nothing had happened.
“When the third bike was stolen he admits he saw red. He grabbed his hammer and smashed the cameras. He’s very ashamed and wishes he stopped for a moment to think but he just saw red and lashed out.”
Roberts added: “Because of the previous occasions it’s been stolen I carry my bike up two flights of stairs to get in the flat.
“On this occasion I locked it outside and went upstairs as I was going back out in a couple of hours. I forgot about my bike, I didn’t end up going out and it happened again.”
Roberts was handed a compensation order of £825, given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15.
District Judge Nigel Cadbury said: “This was a very stupid loss of temper in a moment, that’s what it comes down to.
“One can understand your frustration but there’s still no excuse for what you did.”
