Metal stolen from Ipswich waterfront

A BURGLAR who stole metal from a derelict building on Ipswich's Waterfront is behind bars today.

Darren Bray, 31, climbed to the roof of Paul's Maltings on Key Street with a bag of tools so he could steal copper last October.

Gareth Davies, prosecuting, told South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court on Monday : “This was a burglary of a building in the centre of town.

“(A witness) saw the defendant on the roof of Paul's Maltings on Key Street.

“He could see that (Bray) and another man were stripping metals, mainly copper, from the roof and he wasn't sure if they were supposed to be there.

“The two men were still on the roof when the police arrived.

“At some point they came down. They had rucksacks full of tools.

“Police checked inside the premises and saw that a quantity of metal had been removed and left inside.”

Mr Davies said Bray, of Cromwell Square, Ipswich, originally claimed he went into Paul's Maltings simply because he had always been fascinated by the building, and that he had tools with him because he sometimes slept rough and so needed to cut wood.

However Bray later pleaded guilty to burglary as well admitting to a bail offence by not appearing at court when he was supposed to.

Roger Thomson, mitigating, said: “This is a derelict building down on the docks in Ipswich with not even a door to break to get in.

“He is a drug user; he does live rough quite a lot of the time.

“Even he's beginning to realise that he has got to get to grips with his drug habit if he is going to stop offending.”

Deputy district judge Tim Daber sentenced Bray to 21 days in prison for the burglary and seven days for the bail offence, to run consecutively.

He added: “The offence is made more serious by the fact that that motivation was to feed your drug habit.”

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