Plymouth 2019-01-13

Alex Clough 31

Locked up aged just 14 for attempted rape and robbery.

Profile Picture
Offender ID: O-2582

Locations

No fixed address.

Description

A sex offender who raided a pubs cellar to escape with booze worth 2,000 was caught after the landlord posted CCTV pictures on Facebook.

Alex Clough, aged 26, has been jailed for sneaking down the stairs of the Stoke Inn six times to grab spirits, cider and wine.

Clough also spat in the face of a police officer and failed to tell the authorities where he was living, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

He was locked up aged just 14 for attempted rape and robbery in 2007.

But Clough was caught after the burglary when landlord Steve Bowen posted a CCTV picture on Facebook.

Mr Bowen said today: Justice has been done.

He has used the crime to launch an appeal which has raised 200 for homelessness charity Shekinah.

Clough, recently living in Plymouth, pleaded guilty to burglary on December 15.

He also admitted assaulting a police officer in Andover on October 20.

Clough, also known as Sanders, pleaded guilty to failing to register his address with the authorities in that Hampshire town.

Jailing him for a total of seven months, Judge Paul Darlow said: You behaved in a repulsive manner. You then made all the right noises to probation and said you were going to turn your life around.

You show how much you regret your behaviour by going on to burgle the public house.

Judith Constable, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Mr Bowen noticed the door to the stock room was unlocked following a busy Friday night.

She said he spotted that some of his shelves had been cleaned out.

Miss Constable added that an intruder had taken 21 bottles of spirits, including Smirnoff vodka, Gordons gin, and a box of wine and a box of cider.

The barrister added that CCTV showed a man going up and down the stairs six times to steal the alcohol.

Miss Constable said Mr Bowen posted the image on the pubs Facebook page and Clough was recognised by his parents.

The court heard he handed himself in to police.

Katie Churcher, for Clough, said he had mental health problems and had taken an overdose to end his life.

She added that he had stolen from the pub to try and repay a debt.

Miss Churcher said that he had just started a job doing paving and driveways.

Clough was sent into custody for five years in 2007 for robbing youths in the street. He also pushed a 14-year-old girl into an alley and tried to rape her.

Mr Bowen said after the latest case that he thought justice had been done.

The landlord posted on the pubs page that he loathed and despised Clough.

He added: He was just so brazen. It suggests he is never going to learn.

Mr Bowen said that he had to cancel the staffs Christmas party because of the burglary.

The landlord posted once Clough had been identified: You have robbed me of my Christmas.

He added: We will have a staff party but it is obviously a lot later and it wont be such a grand affair.

Mr Bowen said the pub had raised 200 for Shekinah to help people in need.

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