A burglar chatted to staff in a city centre bar before sneaking upstairs, stealing £200 of alcohol and escaping out a fire exit.
Anthony Hassell took a dozen bottles of alcohol from Roxy Ballroom in Liverpool city centre earlier this year.
The 37-year-old, who is already in jail, had his time behind bars extended after being sentenced for the burglary today.
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Prosecutors said Hassell, who has more than 40 convictions for theft, went into the Roxy Ballroom on Rainford Square in Liverpool city centre on just after 5.30pm on March 14. CCTV footage showed him briefly speaking to staff near the bar on the lower level of the premises for number of minutes but when staff then moved he went to an area upstairs.
People working at the bar had reported Hassell acting suspiciously and once upstairs he quickly grabbed a dozen bottles of alcohol and stuffed them into a black bin bag. He was then disturbed and managed to escape out a fire exit.
Hassell was later arrested and admitted burglary, appearing at Liverpool Magistrate's for sentencing this morning. Hassell is already serving a prison term after being recalled earlier this year. He is set to be released next year and Matthew Dixon, defending, appealed to magistrates to keep any extension to his prison term as short as possible.
He said Hassell's extensive record was driven by addictions to alcohol and heroin and said that he had stolen the alcohol to fuel his own addiction. However, Hassell said once he was taken into custody he had started to properly address his addiction and wanted to turn his life around.
Mr Dixon said: “He has finally come to the realisation in his middle age that this is not something sustainable. This is not a lifestyle he can keep on living.”
Hassell, of HMP Stoke Heath was handed an extra two weeks in prison by magistrates and ordered to pay £200 compensation.
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