Judge admits community order for prolific burglar did not work

Bradley Wernham, 19, had admitted hundreds of offences with police estimating he has stolen about 1.1m of goods, including sports cars, since he was 11.

The teenager was given an opportunity to turn his back on his life of crime when he appeared before Judge Christopher Ball QC last October to be sentenced for 17 thefts and burglaries, with another 645 being taken into consideration.

Instead of jail, Wernham was given a string of community penalties which included a three-year supervision order and a night-time curfew, and required him to carry out unpaid work.

This was the first time Essex Police had tried the "innovative" scheme, which the judge admitted that while a "gamble", was the best course of action.

But months later, in January, Wernham attempted to burgle another house in Essex, where he carried out all his crimes.

Sentencing him to four-and-a-half years for the original offences, and a further six months for the attempted burglary, Judge Ball said Wernham's "immaturity" was to blame for him not fully engaging in the scheme.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Wernham initially co-operated with the project by admitting 645 crimes – 300 of which were burglaries. Some had never been reported to police, and officers would have had no prospect of charging Wernham over the rest.

The judge described Wernham as a "prolific and successful burglar" whose criminality left no home or workplace safe, and added: "He was confessing simply everything he had done and got away with."

He said it was considered Wernham was putting an end to his offending, and added: "The sentence I then passed was a considered and deliberate risk in the hope that, given the encouraging signs, that such a course would indeed break Mr Wernham out of his cycle of offending.

"The risk that I then took obviously has not ultimately resulted in the desired effect."

The judge concluded by saying he wanted publicly to thank Essex Police for trying such an innovative scheme, which is also used in Hertfordshire.