'Desperate' Black Country dad avoids jail because benefits mean he doesn't have to steal

Paul Marriner, aged 39, was trying to steal a haul of cable from the derelict former HSBC building in Edgbaston

A 'desperate' dad who raided a former bank has been spared jail after claiming his benefits meant he no longer had to steal. Paul Marriner was caught trying to bag a haul of cable from the sixth floor of the now derelict ex-HSBC building in Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston.

The 39-year-old, from Wednesbury, who also had a knuckleduster and Stanley blade on him, claimed the wiring would have been worth around £150 to him. At Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, October 8 Judge Laura Hobson decided not to send him to prison, accepting his financial circumstances had changed for the better after hearing he was receiving a Personal Independence Payment.

She said that the 'greater punishment' of immediate custody would be felt by his partner and children. Marriner, of Johnson Road, was sentenced to ten months, suspended for 18 months, after admitting burglary, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a bladed article.

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He was also ordered to carry out 20 days of rehabilitation activity and 200 hours of unpaid work. The break-in took place around 4pm on January 15 this year.

Mark Phillips, prosecuting, said: "Officers were called to 12 Calthorpe Road to reports of a break-in and a number of men on the sixth floor. It was, at the time, a disused office block having been the former HSBC.

"Entry had to be forced and they went up to the sixth floor and found the defendant, who was trying to hide and fill a big bag of cable stripped from the building. They arrested the defendant, searched his bag and found a knuckleduster and Stanley knife."

Marriner had 16 previous convictions for 38 offences, the court heard. The burglary meant he was also in breach of a community order which he had not fully complied with anyway by only completing 16 of 150 hours unpaid work.

Thomas Duggan, defending, said: "The defendant for the last decade has really broken a cycle of quite shocking behaviour and has broken that pattern. This is an offence borne out of desperation for money."

He confirmed that on January 31 this year - two weeks after the break-in - Marriner started to receive PIP because he was a carer for his partner. "It's important when looking at the reasons why this defendant offends, it was borne out of desperation," said Mr Duggan.

The barrister referenced letters from Marriner's family highlighting how involved he was and how much his partner's children's school attendance had improved because of him. Mr Duggan said he did not 'wilfully neglect' the unpaid work requirements of his community order but it was something he 'really struggled to do' due to his family commitments.

Judge Laura Hobson, passing sentence, told him the weapons offences attracted minimum terms which were 'rarely appropriate to suspend', before confirming she would take an 'exceptional course'. She said: "I accept you are the carer for your partner and children.

"I have to have regard to the impact on them of an immediate custodial sentence. Your circumstances have changed. You are now in receipt of carer's allowance and no longer in the financial desperation you found yourself in, in January.

"I accept if you go to prison today the punishment wouldn't just be for you. The greater punishment would be for your partner and children. Their lives have improved recently by your involvement in them. I'm going to take an exceptional course and suspend the sentence in this case."

Marriner replied 'thank you' to which the judge warned it was his 'last chance'.