A CRIMINAL spared jail for a north Cumbria burglary has been locked up after ripping off an electronic ankle tag he was given as part of his punishment.
Anthony William Gargett, 40, broke into the unoccupied Rahi Waterloo at Aglionby, east of Carlisle, in May last year. His 23-year-old son was also involved in a crime which saw entry to the premises forced, belongings stolen and the owner left so stressed he “decided to sell the business”.
Both men admitted burglary and were handed suspended 12-month jail terms along with unpaid work and six-month electronically monitored night-time curfews.
But Gargett senior was back at Carlisle Crown Court today (WED). He admitted breaching the suspended prison sentence by tampering with a personal identification “tag” device which had been fitted around his ankle.
Judge Peter Davies heard Gargett attended a christening on April 14. His lawyer, James Howard, said that as the 7pm curfew deadline approached, Gargett’s mother had fallen. “Stupidly, in what he describes as a moment of madness, he ripped the tag off and gave her a lift home,” said Mr Howard.
Gargett, of Ferens Terrace, Shildon, County Durham, had since also been sent a probation service warning letter having failed to attend for unpaid work on two dates in May.
Judge Davies told Gargett he would be remanded in custody for one night and that, upon being released, the order would continue. But the judge said: “I don’t waste my words. You do this again and it won’t be a question of a day in custody, it will be months. I don’t want these nonsense excuses.”
