Bid to keep 'rampant' burglar who carried out over 60 break-ins out of jail

Bid to keep 'rampant' burglar who carried out over 60 break-ins out of jail

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TRAVERS, AGED 42, CAUSED MORE THAN £85,000 WORTH OF DAMAGE AND LOSS DURING 'RELENTLESS' STREAK 05:30, 23 Jan 2025 A 'rampant' Birmingham criminal who carried out more


than 60 burglaries can be punished outside of jail, it has been proposed. Jonathan Travers caused more than £85,000-worth of damage and loss as he targeted schools, homes and a


Wetherspoon's pub. The 42-year-old stole to fund the class A drug addiction he fell into after the Covid-19 pandemic, Birmingham Crown Court was told. Despite his 'relentless'


spate of burglaries, mainly in 2023, a judge was urged to defer his sentence yesterday, Wednesday, January 22, for six months. Instead, it was proposed that Travers could be supported


through the Crime Free Community Desistance Programme (C3), which would see him avoid an immediate custodial sentence, albeit he was being held in jail on remand. He has admitted seven


counts of burglary, one offence of attempted burglary and agreed to a schedule of 54 further burglary offences to be taken into consideration (TIC). READ MORE: CROOK BIRMINGHAM CAR SELLER


JAILED BUT DINNER LADY WIFE SPARED DUE TO IMPACT ON THEIR CHILDREN Outlining the main charges prosecutor Laura Coton said Travers broke into St. Nicholas Place in Kings Norton on May 22,


2023 stealing a till containing £320 cash as well as a box of shoes worth several hundreds of pounds. On August 23 that year he struck at Highters Heath Community School, taking a £1,500


laptop. Two weeks later on September 6 he broke into the office of Bellfield Junior School in Northfield and took items including a £250 Dyson fan. Travers broke into Rowheath Pavilion twice


in the early hours of September 18, 2023 causing a total loss of nearly £2,500. Article continues below A day later he smashed his way into a home on Middlemore Road, Northfield, and stole


up to £8,000 of goods including designer watches and jewellery. Further incidents included an attempted house burglary on Oct 1 and a shed break-in where he took a strimmer and pressure


washer. Then on April 8 last year he and another man were spotted on CCTV breaking into the Navigation Inn in Kings Norton targeting bottles of spirits. The Wetherspoon's pub said it


has had to pay staff extra to move alcohol as well as spend thousands of pounds in additional security measures. Travers accepted he was behind 54 further burglaries in 2023 alone, ten of


which were to homes. Jonathan Barker, defending, made a formal application to defer sentence for six months as he told the court 'the world he knew collapsed' following the


outbreak of Covid-19. He said: "During that period he lost family members. He lost his parents. For anyone that can cause deep psychological harm and for him he wanted to rid himself of


the pain he was feeling by turning to class A drugs. "He became addicted to heroin and crack cocaine. Without the stability of employment the only thing he could do to fund his


addiction was commit acquisitive crime. I accept it was rampant. It was relentless." Mr Barker said Travers had demonstrated a 'real desire to change' which had earned him a


governor's award in custody. The barrister argued it was in the 'public interest of the residents of Northfield' for Travers to be supported by the 'robust package'


on offer via the C3 programme. Article continues below He added the alternative option would be to send him to jail and risk him being 'stuck in the cycle' of drug-taking, stealing


and jail-time all while causing further harm to people. Judge Avik Mukherjee had interjected at one point saying: "Covid had a huge impact upon millions of people with more trying and


desperate circumstances than the defendant and millions of those people didn't resort to living the life he did." But after hearing the full submission he said it was a


'difficult balancing exercise'. Judge Mukherjee adjourned the case until today, Thursday, January 23 for a decision on the deferred sentence proposal.