Preston criminal is jailed over Blackpool crime spree

Prolific thief Christopher Grundy, 40, of New Hall Lane, Preston, already had 91 convictions for 157 offences on his record before committing the offences in Fleetwood and Blackpool, Preston Crown Court heard, and faced a mandatory minimum term of at least three years in jail.

Sentencing, Judge Beverly Lunt said: " You're 40 years of age and you have more than 100 court appearances - that makes depressing reading indeed.

"The magistrates gave you a real chance last year when they gave you a community order but you just threw that all away, presumably because of your drug addiction, but the only person who can start to look at that and make that go away is you.

"Now all the courts can do is protect society from you as long as possible."

He admitted theft by finding in relation to a man's phone stolen from the Royal Oak pub in Fleetwood in November 2019, and a sneak in burglary in December 2019 in which he was confronted by a family who had been watching a film.

Prosecuting, Suzanne Hargvreaves said when one of the victims heard rustling plastic bags he found Grundy backing out of the door, and the thief, who had stolen the woman's purse, asked: "Is this a care home?"

When he was arrested officers saw him drop something over a wall and found the phone stolen from the pub.

The woman's stolen bank cards were found in his underpants.

He was on prison licence at the time.

In a separate case Grundy and another man smashed the window of Let My Homes of Topping Street, Blackpool, on September 26, leaving a £600 repair bill.

Between September 22 and 24, he broke into three vehicles on Dinmore Avenue, Blackpool.

On November 9, 2020, Grundy sneaked into a security room at an Iceland store and stole cigarettes from a worker's handbag.

He was caught in the warehouse by a delivery driver and tried to say he was not from Blackpool, and that he was looking for the train station.

Defending, Tom Lord said he was released from jail in August 2020 and was homeless.

He added: " He fell off the wagon, relapsed and started using heroin on the street again, which is the motivation for a lot of his offending.

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