Bristol burglar foiled by his own plaster
A burglar came unstuck when a plaster he was wearing on a cut fell off at the scene of his crime.
Bristol Crown Court heard that police found Mark Coles' DNA on the sticking plaster, which was recovered from a break-in at a ground floor flat in Pembroke Road, Clifton, in March.
-
Bristol burglar Mark Coles was foiled by own plaster
When Coles was tracked down, he initially denied wrongdoing but admitted his crime as well as eight similar offences when told about the forensic evidence police had found.
Coles, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the burglary and asked for the other offences to be considered.
The court heard the 30-year-old drug addict had 19 previous burglary convictions, and committed the latest break-in just days after being released from prison from a previous sentence.
Jailing him for three-and-a-half years yesterday, Judge Mark Horton told him: "People who commit burglaries of private dwellings see them as soft targets to gain possession of saleable goods.
"The public is not interested in why they have been burgled and a self-induced drug addiction is not mitigation. A number of these items are irreplaceable; computers contain vital data and information and in the modern era, a loss of a computer is probably much more damaging than any other piece of equipment."
Neil Treharne, prosecuting, said that just past midnight on March 20, the resident of the ground-floor flat in Pembroke Road returned to find a door forced open and his home in disarray.
As well as a Dell laptop computer, the burglar had taken a 27-inch flat screen TV, a Canon camera and passport, which he wrapped up in a duvet.
Mr Treharne said: "A scene-of-crime officer arrived and a Band-Aid in the bedroom had the defendant's DNA on it. The defendant was then arrested. At first he gave no comment but after being informed of the DNA sample, he admitted the offence.
"He said he committed the burglary to supply a drug habit and said he was sorry for what he had done."
Timothy Rose, defending, said his client was released from prison on February 23, sought help from the prolific offender unit but received no assistance because he was not on licence.
Mr Rose added: "He ended up on crack cocaine and offended again."
14 Comments
View all
by kelly-may, bristol
Thursday, May 14 2009, 7:46AM
“yeah i do understand where ure all coming from but obviously itts my brother so i would like say summut”
by sandra, hartcliffe
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 11:35PM
“nobody should condone burglary or any offences commited and yes there are many re-offenders that use their drug addiction as an excuse for what they have done ,but as a mother of an ex addict i have also seen the other side of the coin , maybe i was fortunate to the extent that my son never commited crime to fund his habit but what many people dont realise that addiction is an illness , so when crime is commited for drugs they treat the symptoms and not the cause , there are some addicts that woulnt want help if it was offered but for those trhat do believe me its not there ,there are only 5 detox beds in bristol ,and if they are lucky enough to get one of those the after care is practically, non existant , so they never get to see what other life there is ,and to anyone who has never had the tradgedy of living with an addict and see what they go through i suggest oppinions should be kept to themselves , how many of the people that call them druggies and such names smoke and have tried to give it up ? have you succeded and if you have well done , because my son gave up heroin easier than i can smoking”
by DCW, Brislington
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 10:18PM
“Kelly May, as part of the defendants drug habit "He said he committed the burglary to supply a drug habit and said he was sorry for what he had done.". Irrespective of whether this hurts or not he was prepared to reveal his addiction by means of a defence in an attempt to somehow get away with it. I commend the judge for seeing past this feeble attempt to somehow justify his actions. As someone who has been burgled twice I welcome this judgement and am happy that one less lowlife has been locked away. If your brother is as decent as say he is then maybe he could have sought help to battle his addiction rather than burgle houses. Just a thought.”
by kelly-may, bristol
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 7:42PM
“omg seriously nonee of you understand so stop slagging him like you no anythink about him you just read this butt seriouslyy!!!! grrr fucks me off”
by Bumble, Bris
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 7:38PM
“Hi Kelly, thank you for posting and being honest.
Don't you think that BEP have a responsibility to report all the facts of the story?
My posting asked whether or not the authorities that turned away your brother, when he went to them for help, should take some of the responsibility. As I said before, I don't agree nor condone your brothers actions, as I'm sure you don't, but I would be interested to hear your opinion on those that have failed him.
For your brother, and for all of your family, I hope they are not so quick to turn their backs on him in the future.”
by Martin, Clifton
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 7:35PM
“Kelly, nice people do not go around breaking into other peoples houses and stealing their personal property.”
by Martin, Clifton
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 7:32PM
“Career criminals like him should be locked up and the key thrown away. He has no regard for anyone but himself, and the law abiding public need to be protected from him.
As for the fact that he is a crack head, this is why he burgled peoples houses,so the public need to know this.
If Coles does not want his drug addiction published, then perhaps he should not rob people, violating their property.”
by kelly-may, bristol
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 7:29PM
“people say drugs ant the for it but it partly iss actully!!!! as i should no he actully a nice personn deep down!!!”
by kelly, bristol
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 7:18PM
“he my brother,im his little sister and its not nice reading it. yeah i understand writing bout the burglery but theres no need for the life story!!!!!!!!!”
by Bumble, Bris
Wednesday, May 13 2009, 7:05PM
“So they guy goes arround stealing but BEP shouldn't report his drug habit as it might upset his family???
Don't undertand the logic of that one!
Don't mind people knowing that their son steals from innocent people, just as long as no-one knows he has an addiction?
BEP have a duty to report the news, they are (after all) a newspaper. Besides, anyone could sit in the publie gallery of a court and find out themselves first hand.
Surely we should be more concerned that this chap was tured away from getting help from the prolific offender unit because he was not on licence.
Yes he has been tried and judged by his peers and found guilty. While I don't agree with what he's done, surely the authorities, those who turned away someone that needed their help, should shoulder some of the responsibilities for his latest crimes.”