‘Callous’ thief stole mobility car

Jonathon Ayton whose address was given to Londonderry Crown Court as Bond’s Hill also admitted stealing a car belonging to Christine Smyth of Bonds Street before driving it to Killybegs in Co Donegal, where he abandoned it. The court heard that the mobility car, which Ms Smyth used primarily to transport her disabled brother, was burned out after Ayton had abandoned it, causing her months of hardship and distress.

Police discovered that Ayton was the “fence” for an assortment of stolen good including laptops, mobile phones, power tools, a high end watch and a BB gun taken from various locations in Donegal and Northern Ireland, when they raided a house at Altinure Cottages in Claudy on June 2 last year.

The stolen goods were found in a shed at the back of the house which had been rented under the name Steven McCarron, who police later discovered was in fact Ayton.

Ayton, who is currently serving a sentence for other offences and awaiting further sentencing for others, was jailed for 12 months and will have another 18 months on licence when gets out.

Londonderry Crown Court heard yesterday morning that Ayton had an appalling criminal record with a total of 63 convictions dating back to 1990.

Added to the charges of receiving stolen goods, the court heard that Ayton had taken Ms Smyth’s Nissan Micra car after meeting her and a friend in a local bar and going back to her house on May 6 last year.

Ms Smyth discovered that her car and house keys where gone when she went to lock up after Ayton had left and then found the car missing. When she went to get the car back from Killybegs after a call from Gardai the next day, it would not start and she was forced to leave it there. The abandoned car was subsequently burned out.

Ayton’s barrister Mr Eoghan Devlin said that his client had a “troubled history” and said that time spent in institutions both as an adult and child had seriously impacted on his mental health.

Mr Devlin asked that Ayton be given credit for his efforts to address a long standing problem with drugs and alcohol. He told the court that Ayton was receiving counselling in prison and asked that Judge Grant deem him eligible for a ‘Think First’ course when he was freed from what the barrister described as an “inevitable jail term”. The barrister added that Ayton was “sick of his life of crime” and the trouble that it had brought.

Referring to Ms Smyth’s victim impact report, Judge Grant said that his “callous” actions had meant that she had been caused a great deal of distress and inconvenience while trying to care for her disabled brother without a car.

“I have read about your background and there is no doubt that you have suffered in the past,” said Judge Grant. “But that is no excuse for your actions as many people have suffered in similar ways. The pre sentence report makes it clear that you still present a significant risk of harm to others and there is a likelihood of re offending. The fact that you had so many of goods stolen from various places in your possession leaves me in no doubt that you were in close contact with those who stole them. If there was no one to sell the goods there would be no burglaries.

“On the other hand you have tried to address the problems of drugs and alcohol and so you should be given credit for that.”

Ayton will re appear at Londonderry Crown Court to face further charges, including the theft of a hearse from a Waterside undertakers, at a later date.