A court heard how a man was found with a screwdriver after police saw him trying to tamper with the padlock of a Workington compound in the early hours.
Carl Lister Wilkinson, 41, was initially seen with a man and woman in the town centre area at around 1am yesterday, Wednesday.
After the two men broke off from the woman, a plain-clothed police officer saw the pair at a fenced compound and heard “metal clanking”.
Wilkinson was seen attempting to tamper with a padlock at the compound for around a minute, causing noise. It wasn’t clear whether he was in possession of any tool or implement at the time. The other man appeared to act as a look-out.
One man was heard to say “don’t bother, there’s cameras everywhere”.
Wilkinson, of Clifton Lodge, Great Clifton, was later detained by officers and, during a search, a yellow-handled screwdriver was found in his possession.
When he was brought before magistrates in Carlisle this afternoon, Wilkinson admitted going equipped with the tool for burglary.
John Smith, defending, said the defendant had the screwdriver with him after carrying out repairs on a cousin’s washing machine hours before the compound incident. He had a big blank about what happened in between times.
Wilkinson was last convicted in May 2017, but having since been released from custody, he felt quite seriously he had sorted his life out, said the lawyer.
Magistrates adjourned the case, asking for a probation service pre-sentence report to be prepared. Wilkinson — who appeared in court from custody — was granted conditional bail and is due to be sentenced on July 19.
