'Better off in jail' - 'hopeless' South Tyneside offender found with knife and drugs

The case was dealt with at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court. | NW

A serial offender caught with a knife and drugs while sleeping rough at a South Tyneside roadside has been jailed for six months.

Lee Colman, 47, sparked a police alert after a report of “two bodies” lying at the junction of Downhill Lane, West Boldon, and the A1290 Washington Road, Sunderland.

Officers who attended on Saturday, June 6, found homeless Colman and a friend asleep, prosecutor Gurjot Kaur told a court.

They offered to drive him to Gateshead, but a search found him with a large kitchen knife, cannabis and tablets of anti-anxiety drug pregabalin.

In a twist to the case, his solicitor told magistrates in South Tyneside Colman would be better off behind bars - as he would be looked after in the prison system.

Ms Kaur said: “The police got a call to say there were two bodies lying at the side of the road. They found the defendant and another male.

“They asked the defendant if he wanted a lift but first searched him. They found him with a large kitchen knife, cannabis and pregabalin.”

Colman, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a bladed article in public and two counts of drug possession.

He has 52 previous convictions from 109 offences, and was jailed for 876 days when last before a court in January 2023.

That was for crimes of possession of a bladed article and a dwelling burglary – and he has at least two other bladed article convictions.

Colman committed his latest offences while on licence from his last prison term.

Paul Hanratty, defending, admitted his claim that Colman would be better off in jail was a “horrible thing” to concede.

But he described Colman, who has offended for over 30 years, as being in a “pretty hopeless situation” - and constantly ignored by support agencies.

Mr Hanratty added: “He can’t get anywhere to live, and he is of no fixed abode. He sleeps with friends or sleeps rough.

“He says that people pay lip-service to him and then he is pushed aside. The upshot is that he’s better off in prison.

“He says he found the knife. There is no suggestion anybody was threatened. He accepts perhaps what his fate is.”

Colman must pay a £154 victim surcharge, with no court costs, and magistrates ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the knife and drugs.