Luke Clint Cox (31) was sentenced to 2½ years’ probation on 23 May for two counts of breaking and entering and snatching a handbag.
At that time he was spared prison and the court agreed to send him for treatment at a high-dependency rehabilitation centre in Yorkshire in the hope it would break his cycle of reoffending.
Cox has been before the courts on 25 previous occasions for 140 offences since he was 12 years old, the court heard.
The court was told that he was expected to spend between a year to 15 months at Cygnet Lodge for treatment for drug dependency and mental-health issues connected to abuse he suffered as a young child. Cox also has a history of self-harm and attempting suicide, the court heard.
Crown Advocate Richard Pedley, prosecuting, said that for the first four months at Cygnet Lodge Cox had made progress, but, later, he wanted to leave. When he was told he could not, Cox began to abscond regularly, use cannabis again and, on occasion, throw things at staff members, the court was told. Eventually it was decided that he should return to Jersey and when he did in November he was arrested and later placed on remand.
Advocate Pedley asked the court to activate the three-year sentence he would have received in May for the breach.
Advocate Michael Haines, defending, told the court that Cox had a genuine desire to change, but had been caught in a ‘revolving door’ stemming from the childhood abuse which traumatised him.
‘Events happen to him, which will result in him turning to substance abuse,’ Advocate Haines said. ‘Then, to buy drugs, he steals and that leads to another prison sentence.’ Advocate Haines added that his client had lost his motivation at the treatment facility, as he feared his relationship with his partner in Jersey would fall apart.
He said the couple had been together for more than five years and that Cox’s girlfriend was a source of stability and support in his life. The long separation was creating a strain on them, the court heard.
Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith – who was sitting with Jurats Rozanne Thomas and Collette Crill – noted that Cox had a poor record of complying with community-service orders. ‘We feel we have no option but to imprison you for the offending,’ the Commissioner said. The court gave him credit for the time he had spent at the UK rehabilitation facility and the time he had spent on remand.
