A burglar who impressed a judge with his efforts to find a job has walked free from court.
Reece Holmes,21, ended his search for work when he spotted a Green industry firm working in his neighbourhood and he asked them to take him on and they did.
The firm trained up the Port Clarence criminal who had convictions for dwelling and non-domestic burglaries and they gave him a fat salary.
But a row with his girlfriend after which he got blind drunk and committed another burglary put everything at risk.
Despite him spending six weeks in custody on remand his bosses kept him on, Teesside Crown Court was told today.
He has also been switched from working on contracts away from home so that he can complete a tagged curfew on Teesside.
Prosecutor Sue Jacobs said that Holmes was in breach of a suspended 16-month prison sentence when he broke into a garden shed in Westholme Court, Billingham, at 4.45am on December 14.
The owner heard him banging about and he called the police who caught him. The man said in a Victim Impact statement that it had upset his wife who now worried about being in the house alone.
Graham Brown, mitigating, said that Holmes had stayed off drink for two years before the argument with his girlfriend, and he was heavily under the influence when he was arrested.
He still could not remember the burglary or why he went into the shed. Mr Brown said that other burglars might claim that they went in to urinate or to sleep.
Mr Brown added: “His employers have confirmed that he is going to be kept on by them depending on today.
“That very well-paid job came about as a result of the direct action by the defendant. He saw the company working in the area where he lived, he approached them and they took him on, sending him on courses.”
The judge told Holmes that the job and the time he had spent in custody had spared him from an immediate prison sentence.
Judge Peter Bowers said: “You managed to get yourself a job which showed at least some determination on your part to make your way, and you have spent six weeks in custody.
“Because you have done six weeks and you have got a job, it might be worth taking a chance with you.”
Holmes, of Saltholme Close, Port Clarence, was given a 12 weeks jail sentence suspended for 15 months, a curfew until February 28 from 8PM to 6am and ordered to pay £250 compensation in a month after he pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to steal.
The judge said that the previous suspended sentence would remain in force until February next year.
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