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A FORMER postman carried out a burglary at Newport International Sports Village to feed his mounting drug addiction after his life “spiralled out of control”.
Ex-Royal Mail worker Benjamin Lord stole laptops, tablets and mobile phones worth £10,000 during the raid on May 8, prosecutor Tabitha Walker said.
Cardiff Crown Court heard how most of the items were recovered after police including a dog handler were called to the scene.
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Newport International Sports Village is run by the Newport Live charity.
The organisation’s director of operations Neil Sargeant made a victim impact statement which revealed how the burglary had left them more than £3,000 out of pocket.
The money had to be spent on lost staff hours to deal with the aftermath of the crime, damage and missing electronic items.
Lord carried out the break-in just days after he had burgled the home of two students living on Rugby Road in the Maindee area of Newport.
He stole laptops during this incident which caused added misery to the victims because college work written on the computers was subsequently lost.
The defendant got away with one of the student’s wallets which had £90 cash inside as well as bank cards which he later tried to use.
Lord, 39, of Corporation Road, was also being sentenced for three offences of shoplifting which included stealing four bottles of vodka from Iceland.
The defendant pleaded guilty to burglary, fraud and theft.
He had 11 previous convictions for 20 offences which included harassment and breach of a restraining order.
Stuart John, mitigating, said: “The defendant’s life spiralled out of control in a few months.
“In 2019 he sustained a serious shoulder injury which caused him to lose his job with the Royal Mail.
“At the same time the mother of his two children left him and he was the subject of an acrimonious relationship breakdown.”
His lawyer said his client was given a lump sum which he frittered away before finding himself homeless and turning to alcohol, cocaine and crack cocaine.
Mr John urged the court to suspend his client’s jail sentence and added how the defendant had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
The judge, Recorder Andrew Hammond, told Lord: “You appear to have led a productive and law-abiding life up until 2019.
“You were a postman for 18 years but you suffered a serious injury in a car accident.
“You received £8,000 in compensation for your injury but you spent that on funding your substance misuse.”
He added: “There was the apparent collapse of your life following this car accident and the loss of your job.
“You have not while in the community taken any steps of your own to address your substance misuse.
“You have a record of repeatedly failing to comply with court orders and of challenging those in authority.”
Lord was jailed for 20 months and ordered to pay a surcharge after his release from prison.
