Christopher Roberts, 29, had moved to Plymouth earlier this year, where he carried out the crimes
An Anglesey drug addict has been jailed after using his job as a door-to-door window salesman to burgle homes and con customers.
Heroin user Christopher Roberts, who has a long list of previous convictions, was employed by two national companies as a canvasser – prompting a judge to ask ‘how on earth’ he was given a job.
The 29-year-old burgled two homes and used a bank card stolen during another break-in. He even tricked an elderly lady into lending him £10 which he had no intention of re-paying.
Roberts used his job working for Anglian Windows as cover for his crimes, Plymouth Crown Court heard this week.
He was sacked but then went to work for a second company – where he was arrested without committing any more offences.
Jailing him for just under four years, Judge Paul Darlow said: “What on earth were they (the employers) doing, or thought they were doing, employing you to go door to door with a van marked with their logo?
“How could you cheat a little old lady of £10? That shows how low you were prepared to stoop.”
Roberts, who had been sofa-surfing since moving with his previous partner from Holyhead to Plymouth earlier this year, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, two counts of fraud and one of possession of heroin.
Roberts, with a robbery, burglary and several thefts already on his record, was jailed for a total of 47 months.
Julia Cox,prosecuting, said police noticed a series of burglaries and other crimes committed in the Totnes area around the times that an Anglian windows canvasser was in the neighbourhood.
She added that Roberts had been employed by Anglian since January and February and had sole use of a company van.
Miss Cox said a family returned home from a holiday on August 14, finding that a burglar had climbed through a window and stolen valuables worth just over £5,000, including computers and two bicycles.
Some of the items were found in Roberts’ van and returned to the family.
Miss Cox said that a woman in Totnes came down her stairs just before 8pm on August 24 to find Roberts in her hall. She had left the door open because of the hot weather.
Miss Cox said Roberts turned and fled empty-handed.
She added that Roberts, dressed in company uniform, had called on an Anglian customer in the South Hams on July 4.
Miss Cox said that Roberts and a colleague remained at the home for some hours because they claimed they were waiting for someone to arrive from Plymouth.
She added that he befriended the elderly woman and persuaded her to lend him £10 for petrol – but he never had any intention of pay the cash back.
Miss Cox said Roberts was caught using a bank card in August which had been stolen from an 87-year-old woman. He claimed that he had found the card in a field.
She added that he was finally caught with a small amount of heroin upon his arrest on November 22, when he was working for a different company.
Michael Green, defending, said he had moved to the south coast from Holyhead earlier this year with his partner a student in Plymouth, but had since broken up.
Mr Green said he had started sleeping at the homes of friends in Plymouth and resorted to using first heroin and then crack cocaine.
He added that he had found work and tried to beat his addiction himself, but found that he had been unable to do so.
Mr Green said that the burglaries had been “opportunistic”, but this was rejected by the judge.
A spokesman for Anglian Home Improvements said after the case: “We are fully aware of the criminal proceedings and have been helping the police throughout their enquiries. The individual concerned was not directly employed by Anglian Home Improvements and any working relationship with us ceased in September when these issues came to light.”
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/anglesey-heroin-addict-door-door-12361800
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