A LEAD thief has been jailed for six months after breaching the conditions of a suspended sentence order.

Samuel Bishop, 28, was handed a nine-month term of imprisonment, suspended for two years with an unpaid work requirement, at Bournemouth Crown Court in December last year after being convicted of stealing lead from the roof of St James Primary School – now St James Academy – in Pokesdown.

The same court ruled that Bishop, of Victoria Road, Bournemouth, had breached the conditions by failing to turn up for unpaid work on three occasions in June.

Jailing him, Judge Peter Johnson said Bishop had been given a chance to avoid prison but had not taken it.

He said Bishop would “twist and turn like a Spitfire in a dogfight” to avoid completing the work order, noting an earlier sentencing report which said the defendant had “self-serving cognitive distortions” which led him to place the blame for his actions elsewhere.

He reduced the sentence by three months as, although Bishop had only completed eight hours of the 200-hour community order by August this year, he had since attended every appointment.

Bishop had claimed letters sent by the probation service to inform about his work dates had been sent to the wrong address, but this was not accepted by the court.

Prosecutor Robert Grey, describing the defendant as a “malingerer”, said he had already failed to meet the unpaid work conditions once before, resulting in a hearing in April in which further supervision conditions were added.

In mitigation, Tim Dracass urged the court to add conditions to the existing order, saying Bishop, who is on benefits, was committed to completing the unpaid work requirement, and was seeking a grant to start up his own maintenance business.