A repeat offender who stole property from one car and was caught on video doorbell footage as he attempted to pinch from two others has been given another prison sentence.
Craig James Weaver, 43, was locked up for five years in March of 2020 for burgling the home of a 93-year-old Carlisle woman. Weaver — an offender with more than 130 crimes to his name — was identified as the culprit by police who later told how the break-in had a “terrible” impact on his elderly victim.
He was released from custody on licence after being convicted by a trial jury and sentenced. But he returned to wrongdoing on Saturday night (21st).
Carlisle Magistrates’ Court heard today how Weaver stole a woman’s work identification lanyard and bags for life from a car on the city’s Crummock Street.
Prosecutor George Shelley said another woman was at work when she was alerted to motion being detected on a camera doorbell. Using her mobile phone to view footage she saw Weaver trying to access two vehicles parked close to her property, off Stanhope Road.
Just after 11pm, two officers detained and searched Weaver on East Norfolk Street having spotted him crouched behind vehicles. The stolen lanyard was located in his possession along with other items. A stolen laptop belonging to the same victim was also recovered although Weaver insisted he had not taken that.
When interviewed, Weaver — from Penrith — denied all the offences. But in court he admitted theft and two counts of vehicle interference.
Duncan Campbell, giving mitigation, said former heroin user Weaver found himself homeless after leaving custody when promises of accommodation came to nothing. He had committed the new offences out of “desperation” and seeking “survival”.
John Temperley, the district judge, jailed Weaver, of no fixed abode, for six weeks. The court heard this was unlikely to affect his custody release date in December, 2024.
