A ’career criminal’ who made the mistake of trying to steal from a retired police officer is to undergo a mental health assessment.
Stephen Snell broke into a storage tent in the back garden of a neighbour’s house in Kingskerswell without realising that the owner and his wife were both ex-police officers.
He set off an alarm inside the giant tent in which they were storing their belongings during renovation work and was caught red-handed as he tried to flee.
Householders Robert and Yvonne Campbell used a set of handcuffs which they had kept as a souvenir to detain him until police arrived to arrest him.
Snell, who has 42 previous convictions, many for burglary, claimed he had gone into the garden at 4.30 am to look at the contents of a skip and had set off the alarm by accident when he tripped over and landed on the tent.
He was found guilty by a jury at Exeter Crown Court after they heard that there was no skip on the site and hadn’t been for four months.
Snell, aged 58, of Carswells, Kingskerswell, denied burglary but was convicted and his sentence was adjourned for a psychiatric report by Judge Graham Cottle.
He granted him bail but said: ‘You are a career criminal. I am prepared to let you have your liberty while reports are prepared but you must be prepared for custody when you come back here.’
During the trial the jury heard how Snell set off the alarm in the tent at Lyndhurst Road, Kingskerswell on July 17 last year.
Mr Campbell looked out of the window and saw a light inside the tent and he made a citizen’s arrest as Snell tried to get out through metal fencing. His wife brought the handcuffs to make sure he did not get away.
Miss Bathsheba Cassel, defending, said an initial assessment suggested Snell is suffering from acute mental health problems. She said a full report and a probation assessment would be helpful.