A prolific burglar who was hailed a success story of reform by Theresa May is back behind bars after being turned down for over 50 JOBS and resorting to earning a living “the only way he knows how.”
Brandon Chomyn, 34, earned a meeting with the Home Secretary in January this year where he was praised as a “model of compliance”.
A court heard he had vowed to turn his life around and worked hard to gain NVQ qualifications while on probation.
But having sent off over 50 applications for a variety of job vacancies Chomyn didn’t receive a single interview or acknowledgement.
The frustrated crook then decided to go back to doing “what he did best” and went back to a life a crime.
On Wednesday Chomyn appeared at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court where he admitted burgling a house and stealing #170 cash on June 3.
And just eight months after vowing to stay on the straight and narrow Chomyn was back behind bars after Judge David Pugsley jailed him for three years.
Sentencing Judge Pugsley told him: “In prison you learnt things that would help you find a job, but when you came out you didn’t even get a reply to your applications.
“That is something lots of people with unblemished characters have to deal with, and don’t think I’m unsympathetic to that.
“It is tough, especially in this area.
“But burgling other people’s houses isn’t the answer.”
Stoke-on-Trent has some of highest levels of unemployment in the country with 2,885 people currently out of work.
Ms May visited the city earlier this year to learn about Staffordshire Police’s Integrated Offender Management programme, which targets prolific offenders.
Under the scheme criminals are subject to intensive management in a bid to cut re-offending rates.
Robert Smith, defending, told the court: “Mr Chomyn’s explanation is that since coming out of custody where he had completed courses such as NVQs, he applied for 50 jobs.
“In doing so he was frank about his history, and never got an interview, or an acknowledgement.
“But he continued to do well, that is the picture painted by the probation officer.
“He did so well he was invited to a meeting with the Home Secretary.
“He was presented as a model of compliance.”
However, following his release, Chomyn was put in accommodation by crime reduction charity Nacro, which put him back in touch with other offenders.
Mr Smith added: “He was living with people who had committed the same sort of offences, people he had learnt to move away from.
“He was desperate. He couldn’t obtain work. His girlfriend’s benefits had been stopped.
“So they were both living on #70 a fortnight. This is why these offences were committed.
“He decided to make a living the only way he knew how.”
Chomyn asked for another two break-ins to be taken into account taking his total number of convictions for burglary up to eight.
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