Blackburn man who breached curfew twice - once by only a minute - fined £100

Paul Hargreaves, 48, appeared at Preston's Sessions House on Wednesday after he admitted failing to comply with a curfew imposed on him in June after he was found guilty of burglary.

The court heard how between June 10 and August 10, Hargreaves, of Woodlea Road, Blackburn, had breached his curfew by a combined total of two hours and 45 minutes, on two separate occasions.

He also admitted to missing an appointment with his probation officer on August 17.

Prosecuting, Richard Bennett said Hargreaves had been handed a 12 month community order in June, and as part of that order was required to complete 10 rehabilitation days and was subject to a four month curfew.

He told the court: "He had completed one day of his rehabilitation requirements but breached his curfew by two hours and 45 minutes and failed to attend a planned appointment.

"However, there has not been any further violations since then, and one of the breaches was only by one minute.

"This is the first breach of that order and his compliance is generally good."

In Hargreaves' defence, Maxine Stiles said the circumstances surrounding the breaches must be taken into consideration and mitigated for a financial penalty.

She said: "His mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, a diagnosis which is terminal.

"My client found himself in the position where he was the main care giver for his mother for the last few months.

"The occasions he was late for his curfew was once when he was at his mother's address and she asked him to stay with her while she waited for an ambulance.

"The second time was when his brother turned up at his home address, drunk, and Mr Hargreaves had to leave his accommodation to deal with his brother.

"In relation to his missed appointment, he struggles to get mobile phone signal sometimes, and feels face-to-face appointments would benefit him more."

Before the burglary for which he was handed a community order, Hargreaves had not committed any offences for 17 years.

He was told to pay a fine of £100, plus court costs of £102, with Recorder Joanne Woodward stating the original community order would continue with the same requirements.