Addict is jailed for pub raids.

Byline: By Ron Warrilow

A MAN who raided 15 pubs in Walsall to get money to fuel his pounds 200-a-day heroin and cocaine habit has been jailed for four years.

Michael Roberts carried out the break-ins while on licence from a three-year prison term imposed for burgling eight public houses, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Recorder Christopher Hotten QC told the 34-year-old attacks on pubs were highly disruptive, caused considerable damage to business and were a major inconvenience.

"You have been conducting a campaign of burglaries against public houses. It is clear you learned nothing from your previous sentence," he said.

He ruled Roberts, of Fullbrook Road, The Delves, Walsall, should also serve a further 120 days behind bars - part of the balance remaining on his earlier three-year sentence.

Roberts admitted seven burglary charges, driving off without making payment for petrol and asked for nine other offences to be taken into consideration.

James Dixon, prosecuting, said the offences involved another eight raids on pubs in the area in which property valued in excess of pounds 5,000 was taken.

He told the court that over a two-month period, Roberts burgled pubs so he could ransack the gaming machines and the money he took was spent on drugs.

Anthony Johnson, defending, said Roberts had been seriously addicted to heroin and cocaine since his early 20s.