£1m stolen in 665 raids. Yet burglar walks free... and is given a new home

Published 28th Oct 2009

One of the country's most prolific thieves has been allowed to walk free from court after a judge was told he had turned over a new leaf.

Bradley Wernham, 18, has committed hundreds of offences during a £1million crime spree that began when he was 12 and involved stealing luxury cars and breaking into churches, homes and pubs.

But after admitting 20 burglaries and asking for another 645 offences to be taken into account, he was told that rather than going to jail he was to be relocated to a new town and given a rent-free home to live in with his girlfriend.

The punishment was handed out by Judge Christopher Ball QC, who has caused uproar in the past with a series of lenient sentences.

Last November, he was criticised after deciding not to jail a 17-year-old jail who had under-age sex with a 13-year-old girl. He gave the youth a 12-month supervision order and told him: 'Boys will be boys and girls will be girls.'

Wernham, who was previously living in Harlow, Essex, and will now be moved to a secret location in Chelmsford, could not be located to comment yesterday.

But a friend, who asked not to be named, said: 'He is cock-a-hoop about this.'

There was fury in the town where Wernham will be starting his new life. Chelmsford West MP Simon Burns branded the sentence a 'joke'.

He added: 'It is a disgrace that Chelmsford is being used as a dumping ground for somebody who is a habitual thief.

'It is misguided do-gooding philosophy when a custodial sentence would have been more appropriate.'


The Safer Harlow Partnership, a crime reduction body composed of organisations including councils and Essex Police, is covering Wernham's deposit and first month's rent until he can start claiming benefits and pay them back.

Wernham had already been convicted of 26 offences before appearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday - bringing his total number of known crimes to 691, an average of an offence every three days.

His favourite targets were his home town, as well as nearby Bishop's Stortford and Sawbridgeworth.

Crimes included the theft of two Mercedes cars worth £85,000, an Audi RS4 valued at £50,000, a Porsche Caymen, also worth £50,000, and a £30,000 Land Rover Discovery.

But Judge Ball decided against jailing him after James Howard, defending, said Essex Police were willing to provide rented accommodation for the defendant and would visit him twice a week.

Wernham was told he would have to carry out 150 hours of community service and obey a six-month 11pm to 6am curfew order.

The judge, who lives a few miles from where Wernham waged his one-man crimewave, added: 'You are beginning to grow up and seem to be determined to stop [offending] and, because you assisted the police so much over a long period of time, I am prepared to deal with this in a wholly exceptional way.'

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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