Man held for car crime asks police: 'Can I have my weed back?'
The defendant was caught with cannabis after being searched for an unrelated crime - Credit: Eastern Daily Press © 2014
The accomplice of a man who went round Great Yarmouth trying to get into parked vans later asked police if he could "have his weed back" when officers searched him.
Richard Collis, 41, of Walker Gardens, Wrentham, pleaded guilty to three counts of vehicle interference and one count of cannabis possession when he appeared at Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court on January 6.
Stacie Cossey, prosecuting, said that on September 7 in Great Yarmouth at 9.30pm a witness saw two men trying to get into the van parked at the back of his property.
She said: "The witness was struggling to sleep, and could see the men from his CCTV camera.
"There was £5,000-worth of tools inside the van, which he believes was targeted because it was a work van.
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"He has since built a storage shed in his garden to avoid leaving his tools in his van."
Another witness, Ms Cossey said, saw the two men trying to gain access to more vans around the Lichfield Road area in Great Yarmouth, before moving onto High Road and Coronation Road.
The men tried multiple vans in different streets around Great Yarmouth - Credit: Google
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The witness called the police and PC Devon, arresting the pair, found Collis with cannabis and the other defendant David Rainey, who did not show for his hearing, with a crowbar, Mole grip and screwdrivers.
The court heard that Collis has 17 previous convictions across 39 offences.
Robert New, mitigating, said: "In the four months since September the defendant has finally been diagnosed with anxiety and depression.
"He is a relatively young man struggling with life generally. If you look at him from the outside he appears to be fine, but is actually easily led.
"He got himself involved with another who was clearly more involved in the enterprise because he brought the bag of tools with him.
"Mr Collis didn't gain anything himself, he was just going along with it."
Mr New added that an "indication" of Collis's vulnerable mental state was the fact that when police found cannabis on him, he said: "Yes, that's my weed, can I have it back now?"
The chair of the bench accepted Collis's role was "lesser" and fined him £175, along with court costs of £145 and a victim surcharge of £35.
