A man vaulted a court dock and fled into a town centre after hearing he would be spending Christmas behind bars.

Glen Hill, 18, of Melbourne Road, Clacton, made his escape from Colchester Magistrates' Court, where he appeared facing a string of charges.

But his freedom was short-lived as he was picked up by police in the town's Queen Street soon after he escaped and returned to the court building.

Magistrates consented to him being handcuffed in the dock of the more-secure court one after prosecutor David Bryant requested Hill be cuffed "given his athletic prowess we saw next door".

Hill admitted breaching a community punishment and rehabilitation order. He was resentenced for the offences which had led to the order.

Those offences were two counts of taking a vehicle without consent, three charges of theft, one burglary, one count of interfering with a motor vehicle and failing to answer bail twice.

He also admitted new charges of burglary between August 3 and 4 in Clacton, and interfering with a vehicle between July 24 and 25.

Magistrates told Hill: "We are looking at some serious offences here today."

For the offences which originally led to the community punishment and rehabilitation order, Hill was sentenced to three months for the two counts of taking a vehicle, three months concurrent for the theft, three months concurrent for the burglary, three months concurrent for the motor vehicle interference, and one month concurrent for the bail offences making a total of three months.

For the new offences, Hill was sentenced to three months for the burglary and three months for the vehicle interference, all to run concurrent with the other sentences.

Hill was sentenced to a total of three months in a young offenders' institution.

Published Wednesday, December 22, 2004

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