A MAN who broke into an Oswestry hair salon before stealing items worth more than £2,000 has been spared an instant return to jail.

Carl Queen, 34, of Bicton Heath near Shrewsbury, pleaded guilty at Telford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, March 15 to entering Solutions hair salon in Oswald Road on April 17, 2022 as a trespasser and stealing the items.

Magistrates heard that the salon’s owner had closed the shop, which is down an alleyway and is covered by CCTV which that was activated when Queen and an unknown man broke into the door, causing up to £500 in damage.

Prosecutor Sara Beddows added that the pair stole items from the salon, such as straighteners, to the total of more than £2,000.

They were then seen heading to Eden Court in nearby King Street.

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The CCTV also contained evidence of the unknown person shouting ‘Carl’ at Queen, who was arrested days later after a police officer identified him from the footage.

He initially denied the offence but pleaded guilty at the first opportunity on Wednesday.

Miss Beddows also read out a victim impact statement from the salon owner which said: “It caused us stress and anxiety for some time after and we can’t settle at work thinking it will happen again.

“We’ve struggled sleeping because of checking cameras – we have elderly clients and we want to make them safe.

“We’ve had to replace all our tools as ours are too damaged to carry on.

“It’s upsetting to see the defendant walk past us every day.”

She added that the cost of replacing the door was £316.80 and more for the work.

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A duty solicitor acting for Queen said he had recently been released from prison after breaking a previous order and that he wanted to work with probation, who confirmed he was.

Magistrates told the defendant that he had passed the custody threshold but took into consideration his recent probation work.

They said: “We feel that this offence is so serious it passes the custody threshold.

“There was evidence of planning and you caused a more than £2,000 of damage and caused issues for the business owner.

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“We’ve given you credit for your plea and we have reduced the sentence from six months to four and we are prepared to suspend it for 12 months.”

Queen will also be placed on a three-year community order which will bar him from entering retail outlets in Oswestry, being aggressive to any retail staff, no abusive language towards public people such as police, and not to refuse to leave any properties.

He will also pay £2,020 in compensation.