Prolific criminal sent down

A PROLIFIC criminal who has committed nearly 40 crimes despite the fact he is just 20 is today behind bars after burgling an Ipswich house.

Mr Recorder Anthony Bate told crook Darren Grimwood he had a “depressingly long” criminal record for someone his age when he sentenced him to nine months in a young offenders' institute.

Grimwood, of Lindbergh Road, Ipswich, had earlier confessed to burgling a Nacton Road home and escaping with a meagre £5 from the homeowner's purse.

Ipswich Crown Court heard that Grimwood broke into the home in June last year while a family slept inside.

Ian Pells, prosecuting, said a woman at the house went out on June 3 and returned home at 2.30am the next morning.

She went to bed but when she got up at 9am in the morning she found grass on her kitchen worktop and a footprint on the sink.

Two windows, one small and one larger, were open and the woman's handbag was found outside on the grass.

Her bankcard was next to the bag and £5 was missing.

When scenes of crime officers scoured the scene Grimwood's fingerprint was found on a window he had pushed open to gain access to the house.

Grimwood, who has 25 previous convictions for 39 offences, was arrested in May and pleaded guilty when he appeared before magistrates.

When he appeared before Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday, the court was told that Grimwood needed to address his use of cannabis because of the impact it was having on his life.

The recorder told him: “You are a 20-year-old Ipswich man with a depressingly long criminal record for someone your age.

“You found the householder's handbag, rifled through it and took what you found.

“You had of course no choice to plead guilty for that offence.”

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