Brighton shoplifter asks court: "Why jail me? I'll only watch TV"

11:30am Wednesday 16th May 2012 in News

SHOPLIFTER: Gregory Horrabin SHOPLIFTER: Gregory Horrabin

A serial shoplifter told magistrates that if they jailed him he would only end up watching television in prison.

Gregory Horrabin stole wine on a drinking binge and breached an antisocial behaviour order because he had not read it.

Now he has been sent back to prison to complete a previous sentence – and given an extra six-week term for his latest crimes.

When he appeared at Brighton Magistrates' Court he instructed his solicitor, Lucinda Dore, to ask: “If I receive a short-term custodial sentence, what benefit is that going to have for me? “I’ll be lying down in bed watching TV.”

Horrabin, 43, of Grand Parade, Brighton, was jailed for six weeks for shoplifting in March. On April 20, after his release on licence, he went into Tesco in Western Road, Hove, and stole six bottles of wine, worth £29.94.

Miss Dore told the court he was penniless when he was released because he was waiting for his benefits claims to be reassessed.

She said: “He is binge drinking simply to deal with the difficulties he has.”

Horrabin was banned from 27 city centre stores under an antisocial behaviour order handed down last week. Those shops included Boots in North Street, where he was arrested after security guards saw him on Saturday. Following his arrest he tested positive for cocaine.

At court yesterday he admitted the theft, breaching the Asbo and a charge of failing to turn up for an appointment for his drug problem to be assessed. Miss Dore said: “He has a horrendous record of being before the court.”

She said a short prison sentence would mean he would not be able to complete any rehabilitation courses while in prison. The court was told he has a crack cocaine habit costing up to £50 a week and cannot do some work because he’s blind in one eye.

Horrabin has said he plans to appeal against his Asbo. He was taken to prison to serve the rest of his original theft term. Presiding magistrate Geoffrey Cornwell also handed down a six week sentence for the Tesco theft and Asbo breach, to begin when the other term ends.

Lisa Perretta, the manager of the Brighton and Hove Business Crime Reduction Partnership, was involved in the application for an Asbo for Horrabin.

She said: “If he continues breaching it they are going to come down on him harder and harder. “As far as I’m concerned, if it keeps him away from the shops, that’s fine.”

Comments(44)

Annumella says...
11:48am Wed 16 May 12

What a delight! Another drain on society.At 43 years old hardly a chance to change. Brighton and Hove seems to be a haven for the great unwashed. Really do you think staying away from shops is the answer or even a possibility.

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Funky Panda says...
12:08pm Wed 16 May 12

He can't work because he's blind in one eye? He can see to shoplift just fine though (admittedly not very well or he wouldn't keep getting caught).

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Indigatio says...
12:29pm Wed 16 May 12

Lock him up and throw away the key.

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Cabin fever says...
12:32pm Wed 16 May 12

Simple: Send him to prison, take his TV away.

Then he won't be watching it, or robbing shops!

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Archie Bun says...
12:35pm Wed 16 May 12

Penniless but can afford drugs.

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Nikski says...
1:00pm Wed 16 May 12

He asks what benefit will going to prison be for him.......er, well it's not supposed to benefit you muggins it's to benefit society by keeping you locked up so you can't keep being such a naughty criminal (and utter waste of space)!
And for Archie Bun: he can afford drugs by selling the things he keeps shoplifting - that's why most people who steal do it, to pay for their dingy habits.

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Old Ladys Gin says...
1:08pm Wed 16 May 12

Funky Panda wrote:
He can't work because he's blind in one eye? He can see to shoplift just fine though (admittedly not very well or he wouldn't keep getting caught).
But has lousy taste in wine if he nicked 6 bottles worth 29 quid.
Perhaps if he had better eyesite he may have gone for the vintage plonk!

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Morpheus says...
1:10pm Wed 16 May 12

You have to wonder about solicitors. Here we have one wanting her client to finish a rehabilitation course which obviously isn't working. Then she seems to forget that David Blunkett did a Ministers job when blind. She needs some better ideas to get her clients off.

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davyboy says...
1:18pm Wed 16 May 12

prison isn't supposed to let them watch tv all day, surely? once out he will re-offend, and go back inside again. it is about time people like this were given long enough sentences to be of benefit whilst they are in there, so that rehab can actually take place

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wole says...
1:37pm Wed 16 May 12

More scum costing the taxpayer thousands.

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Stoves says...
2:10pm Wed 16 May 12

who pays for his TV license? And does every cell require a separate license?

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GIVE UP says...
2:17pm Wed 16 May 12

Go into any pub in most towns and you will find shoplifters who will take your orders,stop the buyers and then maybe you'll stop the shoplifters.The down side will be they'll turn to other crimes to make money.

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willy harris says...
3:10pm Wed 16 May 12

poor man! why dont we all club together and buy him five cases of wine/ten litres of white lightning/and three bottles of whisky.and encourage him to drink the lot..that way the earth would be rid of this scrounging piece of dog ****.then again what happens to this when the dog has finished with it???compost maybe,,

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Hard times says...
3:30pm Wed 16 May 12

STRING THEM UP. DAILY MAIL. RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE. BENEFITS. SOAP. 99%. RABBLE RABBLE. BROWN PEOPLE. I'M SICK OF THESE PEOPLE LET ME RUN THEM OVER IN MY 4X4. I BLAME CAROLINE LUCAS.

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Hard times says...
3:31pm Wed 16 May 12

TRAVELLERS

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Thetruth666 says...
4:19pm Wed 16 May 12

A crack habit costing £50 a week?From what i have read on the subject that would last him about an hour at most.

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RickH says...
4:28pm Wed 16 May 12

Pavlov once had a bunch of dogs and pushed forward undertsanding of a concept known as conditional response and behavioural psychology. I wonder what he would make of the majority of the postings and their authors on the Argus board.

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JHunty says...
6:03pm Wed 16 May 12

Hard times wrote:
STRING THEM UP. DAILY MAIL. RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE. BENEFITS. SOAP. 99%. RABBLE RABBLE. BROWN PEOPLE. I'M SICK OF THESE PEOPLE LET ME RUN THEM OVER IN MY 4X4. I BLAME CAROLINE LUCAS.
Whats your point? Are you claiming he didnt commit the crimes he is charged with, are you claiming that there is a right wing conspiracy to frame this guy? Are you happy to see your shopping bill added to because the shops need to factor in the cost of criminal behaviour like this?
Why shouldnt people be fed up with career criminals who play the system at our expense?

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turtling. says...
6:32pm Wed 16 May 12

we come into the world with nothing and leave it with nothing, don't blame this person, it's society that's to blame

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Cash Cow says...
6:42pm Wed 16 May 12

The bloke has got a point, imagine being locked away and forced to watch telly for six weeks, think I would rather spend six weeks in solitary confinement.
Seriously though, think of the work created if a new prison was built in every county in the country. It would be tax money well spent if all you good people could live in a society free of crime and the fear associated with it, and it is quite likely it would cost no more to administer than the present inadequate way of doing things. The only downside would be some of these people like Lucinda Dore might have to wake up and earn a living which actually benefits the community on the whole instead of just her selfish misguided self!

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cvs says...
7:24pm Wed 16 May 12

GIVE UP wrote:
Go into any pub in most towns and you will find shoplifters who will take your orders,stop the buyers and then maybe you'll stop the shoplifters.The down side will be they'll turn to other crimes to make money.
Are you sure. I've been going into pubs for the last 40 years and I've never come across that. Perhaps I look too honest and unapproachable

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Leon says...
7:42pm Wed 16 May 12

This is the sad state of today's Criminal Joking... I mean Justice System

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hogarth123 says...
8:35pm Wed 16 May 12

Hard labour and a diet of bread and water and chances are he would not be back. Chances though he will be a drain on society until the day he dies.

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boblat says...
9:02pm Wed 16 May 12

turtling. wrote:
we come into the world with nothing and leave it with nothing, don't blame this person, it's society that's to blame
I really find it hard to believe that the 'good' (ha!) people of Brighton can be so vindictive and nasty to a fellow ''Human''. Society and the stamping down of unfortunates are really the one's to blame, so why tread on a person with enough sense to offer the strict old fashioned magistates an alternative to filling up our Prisons, when they should be left for MURDERERS AND CHILD ABUSERS????

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boblat says...
9:04pm Wed 16 May 12

Actually, he looks like a real ''cool dude'' to me??

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sandalman says...
9:33pm Wed 16 May 12

join the navy as cannon fodder.? or should we try to help this man?

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OldSchoolYoungster says...
9:51pm Wed 16 May 12

Someone hand that man some soap. Then maybe he will feel the long arm of the law!

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GIVE UP says...
9:59pm Wed 16 May 12

CVS you've never been offered any duty frees or any knock off gear in 40 years.It must be because you only go to the pub on christmas and new years eve Oh and mothers day

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
10:42pm Wed 16 May 12

Perhaps RickH the defendant could live with you in your ivory tower and you can help him with your psychological expertise.
Then you can show us mortals how we too can help the addicted, the lying, the thieving, the anti-social.
Perhaps you could also advise every other psychiatric nurse and councillor who try their darndest to help these folk but who also realise that some people are revolving door cases.

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Vigilia says...
12:00am Thu 17 May 12

Skid Row-on-Sea

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mimseycal says...
1:12am Thu 17 May 12

I've had it up to here and beyond with these hardluck stories. If I set a foot wrong I pay and if they set a foot wrong, I pay.

Bloomin' thiefs, shoplifters, Asbo serving dregs of society ...

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Robin48gx says...
12:24pm Thu 17 May 12

We should elect him mayor. Then he would get free wine and stuff at all the events he goes to.

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Softspoken says...
9:32pm Thu 17 May 12

Its time to turn the prison system around.

Lets say we have 1000 prisoners in a prison currently funded by the taxpayer.

Can't 50 work a farm for food, 20 work as tailors and laundry for clothing, 10 work a kitchen.

With these rough estimates aside cant a huge remainder of prisoners manufacture items that are largely imported so as not to upset British employment.

Proceeds from business can be given to victim support, community projects, more prisons....anything including a % going to prison upgrades such as a gym or televisions so the prisoners have a goal and feel proud of what they have earned through hard work.

Cold and hard? Maybe not. Prisoners could not only learn trades but come out "institutionalised" into working a 9-5.

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willy harris says...
12:00pm Fri 18 May 12

turtling. wrote:
we come into the world with nothing and leave it with nothing, don't blame this person, it's society that's to blame
no its people like you who are too blame ,,do gooding gutless wonder as you are,get a real life.

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TokyoPete says...
12:31pm Fri 18 May 12

mimseycal wrote:
I've had it up to here and beyond with these hardluck stories. If I set a foot wrong I pay and if they set a foot wrong, I pay. Bloomin' thiefs, shoplifters, Asbo serving dregs of society ...
So, what dear sir or madam are your detailed proposals to save tax-payers money and rid the world of these 'Asbo- serving dregs of society'?
Put them in concentration camps? A Final Solution?
Calling Gregory Horrabin a 'career criminal' is an absolute joke.This man is a human being, who for some reason, unknown to any of us has fallen on hard times. You ain't the victim. . . he is. The real career criminals are the greedy, powder-sniffing bankers and the Monsanto-style slash and burn corporations.

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turtling. says...
11:48pm Fri 18 May 12

willy harris wrote:
turtling. wrote:
we come into the world with nothing and leave it with nothing, don't blame this person, it's society that's to blame
no its people like you who are too blame ,,do gooding gutless wonder as you are,get a real life.
you can't spell .to. u gobstopper sucker

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willy harris says...
4:06am Sat 19 May 12

turtling. wrote:
willy harris wrote:
turtling. wrote:
we come into the world with nothing and leave it with nothing, don't blame this person, it's society that's to blame
no its people like you who are too blame ,,do gooding gutless wonder as you are,get a real life.
you can't spell .to. u gobstopper sucker
didnt realise it was a spelling contest.or a exercise in bad grammer,please if you are writing too another person try and use propers words! i.e.''.U.''.not silly little childrens things because someone told you its clever?so my advice too you is go back to silly school,and maybe get yourself ecucated,as for gobbsuckers i seem to remember that they were quite nice,,try eating one?

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mimseycal says...
6:17am Sat 19 May 12

TokyoPete wrote:
mimseycal wrote:
I've had it up to here and beyond with these hardluck stories. If I set a foot wrong I pay and if they set a foot wrong, I pay. Bloomin' thiefs, shoplifters, Asbo serving dregs of society ...
So, what dear sir or madam are your detailed proposals to save tax-payers money and rid the world of these 'Asbo- serving dregs of society'?
Put them in concentration camps? A Final Solution?
Calling Gregory Horrabin a 'career criminal' is an absolute joke.This man is a human being, who for some reason, unknown to any of us has fallen on hard times. You ain't the victim. . . he is. The real career criminals are the greedy, powder-sniffing bankers and the Monsanto-style slash and burn corporations.
I know. Annoying isn't it when someone comes on makes a bold statement and then vanishes. My excuse I'm afraid is that I had just been burgled for the 2nd time in less then a week.

I've had my mobility scooter deliberately wrecked by a man, unrelated to me, who 'lost it'. He was found guilty but because he gave a hard luck story, unemployed (as he had just come out of prison), many kids to feed (because a condom is too much effort?) can't read because school never taught him, etcetera and so forth ...

Token compensation for the wrecked mobility scooter at the rate of £5.00 a month which ultimately didn't amount to more than one tenth of the value. I was left without the independence that my (self financed) mobility equipment grants me for three months whilst I desperately tried to find enough money to get another wheelchair.

And guess what ... I didn't mug an old lady to get that money, I didn't cheat on my income tax and I didn't take the wheelchair off another individual.

I put in extra hours, I didn't go on a holiday I had planned for over a year to go and see some friends up North, I put off redecorating my one room flat, I reorganised my entire life, cutting out any non-essentials such as going to the cinema, hearing a concert or meeting friends for a coffee and a chat.

I replaced my wheelchair. You didn't, the perpetrator didn't, the system didn't. I did! And while I was struggling to replace it, his kids came to my door, just knocking on it and then running off calling me a slag (that is just the printable version BTW) for getting their
dad into trouble.

No, you are right, I wasn't a victim ... I'm just fair game I suppose.

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turtling. says...
1:46pm Sat 19 May 12

willy harris wrote:
turtling. wrote:
willy harris wrote:
turtling. wrote:
we come into the world with nothing and leave it with nothing, don't blame this person, it's society that's to blame
no its people like you who are too blame ,,do gooding gutless wonder as you are,get a real life.
you can't spell .to. u gobstopper sucker
didnt realise it was a spelling contest.or a exercise in bad grammer,please if you are writing too another person try and use propers words! i.e.''.U.''.not silly little childrens things because someone told you its clever?so my advice too you is go back to silly school,and maybe get yourself ecucated,as for gobbsuckers i seem to remember that they were quite nice,,try eating one?
you're a product of society too, how'd u like it if people wanted to lock u up cos you can't spell 2 syllable words..... that takes some beating in the 'thick' stakes...... now don't show yourself up and go and get mummy to change your numpty nappy

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willy harris says...
5:24am Sun 20 May 12

naughty naughty, now go back to baby school, COS your nurse wants U to have a little sleep before U get over excited,can i ask before you go why do you use the number two instead of the letters?maybe its because indeed your,numpty,cant find this word anywere, nappy wants boiling as itmust be quite full.have a nice sleepy time,xx

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willy harris says...
5:24am Sun 20 May 12

naughty naughty, now go back to baby school, COS your nurse wants U to have a little sleep before U get over excited,can i ask before you go why do you use the number two instead of the letters?maybe its because indeed your,numpty,cant find this word anywere, nappy wants boiling as itmust be quite full.have a nice sleepy time,xx

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willy harris says...
5:24am Sun 20 May 12

naughty naughty, now go back to baby school, COS your nurse wants U to have a little sleep before U get over excited,can i ask before you go why do you use the number two instead of the letters?maybe its because indeed your,numpty,cant find this word anywere, nappy wants boiling as itmust be quite full.have a nice sleepy time,xx

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willy harris says...
5:24am Sun 20 May 12

naughty naughty, now go back to baby school, COS your nurse wants U to have a little sleep before U get over excited,can i ask before you go why do you use the number two instead of the letters?maybe its because indeed your,numpty,cant find this word anywere, nappy wants boiling as itmust be quite full.have a nice sleepy time,xx

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leoden says...
2:38pm Tue 22 May 12

You're all going to be in trouble when it turns out this guy is the second coming of Christ.

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