Mansfield burglar left carrying the can for cannabis farm break-in

Clint Pickering's alleged accomplice was arrested with a stolen television as he ran from an address on High Hazel Drive, Mansfield Woodhouse, at 5.50am, on September 24, last year, said prosecutor Eunice Opare-Addo.

He told police that Pickering had kicked the door in, but after the cannabis grow was discovered and the occupant refused to cooperate further, the accomplice walked free.

Pickering's footprint was found on the door and he later admitted his role in the burglary, in which a Toshiba laptop and three pairs of trainers were also taken.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Pickering has 37 previous convictions for 93 offences, including two non-dwelling burglaries in 2010 and 2014.

He was last in court for interfering with a vehicle in October 2020, when he received a community order, Ms Opare-Addo added.

Katrina Wilson, mitigating, said the defendant pleaded guilty in March after taking “an honest and realistic view based on the evidence”.

"Unlike his co-accused he did not play the system,” she said. “He was honest from an early stage. He is the only one in the dock for this offence.”

She said it was a year to the day since the burglary and Pickering has been on an electronically-monitored curfew, serving the equivalent of a four-and-a-half month sentence.

“There has been no further offending,” she added. “He moved back with his elderly parents and leads a very much straightforward life. He has struggled with a Class A drug addiction for more than 20 years.”

Ms Wilson said Pickering recently tested positive for opiates and cocaine but has been engaging with a rehabilitation programme off his own back.

“He denies substituting his addiction to drugs with an addiction to alcohol,” she added.

On Friday, Recorder William Davis told Pickering, who was nearly two hours late to court because of car trouble, he has “a bad record”.

But he ruled the public would be better served if he was given the chance to tackle his drug problems.

Pickering, 38, of New Mill Lane, Mansfield Woodhouse, received a 20-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, with ten rehabilitation days and a nine-month drug programme.

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