Jail for thief caught driving while disqualified for 8th time

A former soldier with 60 previous offenses on his record is back in jail after he stole an electric bike and was caught driving while disqualified for the eighth time. Phillip Taylor, 39, appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday (18 June) after admitting the latest offences.

The court heard that in May, just over three months after being released from prison following his latest prison sentence, Taylor, formerly of Sylvan Street, Newfoundpool, Leicester, was driving past a house in Charnian Way, Shepshed. There, he saw an open garage door and the 800-pound e-bike inside.

He stopped, put the bike in the car and left. A neighbor saw the theft and alerted the bike’s owner and Leicestershire Police were called.

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The theft was caught on CCTV and a police officer recognized Taylor, who was homeless at the time and living in a friend’s car. But he was caught six days later while driving the car in Loughborough.

He was pulled over for driving without insurance and driving while disqualified. The court heard that Taylor, who previously served with the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, already had 60 offenses on his record, including another burglary, several driving without insurance offenses and seven convictions for driving while disqualified.

Last October he was jailed for various things, including driving offences, and later that year he was also convicted of assaulting an emergency worker. Sukdev Bisla, who represents Taylor, said the e-bike theft was opportunistic.

He said: “The tip was an impulsive offence. The bike was coming out halfway through the garage, he saw it and made the crazy decision to steal it. There was a limited trespass to the property.”

He asked the judge, Recorder William Davis, to give his client a suspended sentence. He said Taylor had a job as a forklift driver on the line as well as accommodation and was willing to pay the bike’s owner full compensation.

He added that his client had post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in the Army. But the judge said there was no option but to lock Taylor up because of his record and the fact that he had often disobeyed court orders in the past.

He said: “I find no realistic prospect of rehabilitation.”

Taylor was jailed for six months and banned from driving for 25 months. He will have to take an extended test before he can drive again.