A SERIAL offender who threatened a man with a hammer in his own home has only been out of the courts for one year in recent times, and that was when he was in jail, a court heard.

Salisbury Crown Court heard on Friday that Marley Sheppard, 23, and his accomplice Jason Raspini, 20, forced their way into the Bedwin Street home of Kevin Mima.

Sheppard, of Heathview Drive, Salisbury, picked up a hammer from the communal hallway and used it to threaten Mr Mima, while asking him for drugs and money.

Mr Mima told Sheppard he did not know what he was talking about, at which Sheppard made him empty his pockets out while Raspini, of Westwood Road, Salisbury, searched other rooms of the property. They took the money he had in his pockets and left.

Prosecuting, Peter Asteris read out a statement from Mr Mima saying he was scared and fearful that at any moment he could have been hit with the hammer.

Pauline Thompson, representing Sheppard, said he had an unhappy history of appearances. "He is a young man with 19 convictions, a young man who has had an extremely difficult background."

She described how Sheppard had started smoking cannabis at 12. By 14 he had taken ecstasy, which caused severe epilepsy, then he developed a cocaine habit that he hid from his family.

She said he has the reading age of a seven-year-old and spent time in care as a child.

The court was told Sheppard, who admitted aggravated burglary, was on licence for robbery when the burglary was committed and Judge Keith Cutler sentenced him to serve at least two years in prison, after he has served the remaining 733 days on his licence.

He said: "For your 23 years, you have been very busy indeed. I can only find one year recently that you have not been before these courts and that year you were in prison.

That does not put you in a very good light. You have a history of violent offences so I am forced to the conclusion that there is a significant risk to members of the public.

I have no alternative but to impose a sentence for protection of the public."

Chris Amis, defending Raspini, who also pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, said that this was not the worst case of aggravated burglary as the hammer was not used and the victim was unharmed. He described Raspini's involvement as being in the background - rifling through drawers but not directly threatening and not in possession of the hammer himself.

He said: "He has a number of previous offences, but nothing remotely similar to this type of offence. This is out of character for him and there is nothing in his past that indicates he would find himself in crown court facing an allegation of this seriousness."

Mr Amis also said Raspini had made good use of his time on remand, completing drugs and alcohol awareness courses and was about to start an advanced thinking course.

Sentencing Raspini to two years in jail, Judge Cutler said: "You have a history of appearances before the courts but not a history of offences of this seriousness.

Looking at you and what I read about you, whilst this is a serious offence, the role you took was not."

Judge Cutler also ordered Raspini to serve a three-month suspended sentence he breached by committing this offence.

8:35am Thursday 22nd May 2008

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