A BURGLAR tried to prise open an ice cream cabinet with a machete after breaking into a corner shop.
But the sound of breaking glass alerted a woman living opposite the TFG shop on Halliwell Road and, after a chase, police caught and arrested 20-year-old Kallum Armstrong.
At Bolton Crown Court Armstrong pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, possessing a knife in public and and handling stolen bank cards and documents which had been taken in separate street robbery.
Judge Stead heard how the owners of the shop locked and secured it at 10pm on January 15, but at 3am Armstrong and another man broke in and began stealing items including drinks, cigarettes and a till. The goods were recovered by police, but £1,400 worth of damage had been done to the shop.
Isobel Thomas, defending, stressed that, although Armstrong, of Crompton Close, Hall i'th' Wood has an unenviable criminal record, he has not offended since January, has stable accommodation and is keen to engage with probation and mental health services.
Accepting that Armstrong was not the ringleader, Judge Stead opted to defer passing a potential suspended prison sentence until May 2 next year to give him time to prove he has changed his life.
"You have shown signs of trying to turn the corner," the judge told him.
But he stressed that, if Armstrong does not continue to make good progress, he faces a more severe sentence."Some people leave here with a bit of a risk hanging over them. It is a lot of risk in your case,"
the judge told him.
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