A MAN has finally been sentenced for burgling a convenience store three years after he committed the crime.

Bolton Crown Court heard there was no explanation for the delay in bringing Kieran Doherty to court for sentence after he was released from a previous prison term in August 2019.

Michael Blakey, prosecuting, told how Doherty and his accomplice, Damien Parkinson forced open the shutters at Tonge Moor Mini Market at 6am on April 15, 2018 before stealing a TV and up to £3,000 worth of cigarettes.

The total loss to the shopkeeper, including repairing the damage, amounted to £5,300.

Parkinson, aged 30, of Manchester Road, Bolton, was caught due to forensic evidence and was jailed for six months by Wigan magistrates in December last year.

Doherty, of Rossall Road, Tonge Moor, pleaded guilty to also committing the burglary. But Nicholas Ross, defending, stressed that he could have come to court much earlier and been serving his sentence at the same time as he was in prison for other offences.

Recorder Katherine Pierpoint sentenced Doherty to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for six months.