Sunderland dad to spend Christmas in jail after failing to comply with community order

A dad will spend Christmas behind bars after his almost complete failure to abide by a court order saw him jailed for his original crimes.

Christopher Dent, 37, was “wilfully and persistently” non-compliant with a community order, imposed as punishment for a total of four thefts from shops.

Dent, of Overton Street, Millfield, Sunderland failed to keep two appointments with the Probation Service in June last year – then disappeared from radar.

At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, he admitted breaching the 18-month order, leading District Judge Zoe Passfield to rescind it and resentence.

In its place, she jailed him for eight weeks for each of the thefts – all committed before June 2022 – to run concurrently.

It was the second time the community order had been reset, with Dent having refused to comply once before.

The Probation Service confirmed Dent’s interest in abiding by the order’s terms had increased after he was breached for his poor attendance record at appointments.

But it remained so poor as to prove to be “wilful and persistent non-compliance”, a spokesman told the hearing.

Dent admitted a charge of failing to comply with the order by missing appointments on June 20 and June 30 last year, with a warrant being issued for his arrest the following month.

Annalisa Moscardini, defending, urged Judge Passfield to spare Dent jail, saying he was engaging with a Wearside addictions treatment support centre.

She said family matters had also caused her client’s mind to become focused on other matters, adding: “He has been completely preoccupied.

“He thought that the order was finished, he thought that it was shorter than it was.

“Mr Dent has said to me that this is the longest that he has been out of trouble since he was 15 years old. He hasn’t committed any other offences.

“If you look at his record, there’s a massive turnaround in the way that he’s behaved.

“He is working with Wear Recovery for drug appointments. I make no excuses for him not complying with the order. He has been doing a lot of other work.

“He is very worried about not being able to be with his son at Christmas. I’m asking you to look at any alternative to custody so he can keep up the good work he’s doing.”