'You have received a sentence beyond the powers of any court'

A judge told a thief with motor neurone disease that he had 'received a sentence beyond the powers of any court' after he stole parcels worth £8,000 during a break-in at an Evri depot. He told Darren O'Brien that his condition was 'not any impediment to an immediate prison sentence', but referenced a deterioration in his health.

O'Brien - who has more than 40 previous convictions - brazenly loaded up his van with three cages full of goods which were due to be delivered to customers after gaining entry to the site by posing as a courier, a court heard. He then set up a Vinted account to sell the stolen loot for 'some extra money for his family' in the run up to Christmas, the prosecution said.

But O'Brien, 53, was told he was being spared an immediate custodial sentence following a rapid deterioration in his health in the months since the burglary.

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Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday that O'Brien drove into the firm's distribution centre on Pacific Road in Bootle alongside several legitimate delivery vehicles and 'simply took out three cages which were filled with parcels waiting to be delivered to customers' on December 13 last year. He then loaded the packages, worth a total of £8,420, into his Ford van in the car park before leaving.

Derek Jones, prosecuting, described how his behaviour aroused the suspicions of an employee, who took a picture of his vehicle. O'Brien, of Albert Road in Southport, was then pulled over by police on Edge Lane on December 13 in a Skoda Kamiq car which was said to have been 'overflowing with parcels and packages'.

When officers looked at his mobile phone, they discovered a number of messages he had exchanged on second hand online marketplace Vinted - including agreeing the sale of a stolen Boohoo dress to another user for £10. Under interview, the defendant told detectives that he "wanted to earn some extra money for his family in the run up to Christmas" and was "approached by a couple of people in a pub" who offered him £800 and told him how he could steal from the Evri depot, reports The Echo.

O'Brien has a total of 43 previous convictions for 82 offences, including six for non-dwelling burglaries and handling stolen goods and seven for assault. His most recent brush with the law saw him jailed for eight months for racially-aggravated assault and harassment in 2018.

He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2020 and now resides in a care home. Nick Cockrell, defending, told the court: "His health has deteriorated since the commission of this offence.

"Notwithstanding his unattractive antecedent record, there is about a six-year gap since his last offence. The stark reality is, if your honour can be persuaded to impose a suspended sentence and if he abides with the terms of that and does not commit any more offences, then he is likely to see out his days in a non-custodial environment."

At this, Judge Ian Harris said: "He has received a sentence which is beyond the powers of any court. I make this clear. The fact of his condition is not any impediment to an immediate prison sentence, but I am mindful of his deterioration in health."

O'Brien admitted burglary and fraud. He was allowed to remain out of the dock and sat in the body of the courtroom in an electric powered wheelchair as he was handed a 16-month imprisonment suspended for two years.

Judge Harris added in his sentencing remarks: "Your criminal record is appalling. You have been to prison on a number of occasions in the past. You are now to be sentenced for impertinent but planned offending. You have a diagnosis of motor neurone disease, which arose in 2020. This has affected your diet and you have impaired speech, breathing and swallowing.

"Your condition has deteriorated in the last six months. You spend the vast majority of your time confined to a wheelchair and you are now residing in a care home.

"There is no alternative, given your record, to imprisonment. Sadly, and it is sad, it would be, in my judgement, inappropriate to send you directly to prison, and I regard your deteriorating condition as an exceptional factor that means I can suspend the inevitable prison sentence. The fact of your condition is not any impediment to you receiving a prison sentence. If you commit any offence during the continuation of this sentence, you risk going to prison."