Jarrow man who completed just 60 minutes of his 80-hour unpaid work programme is jailed

Lazy Peter McShane, 36, of Salcombe Avenue in Jarrow, had completed just 60 minutes of his 80-hour programme when he missed two planned sessions a week apart.

He was ordered to undertake unpaid labour as punishment after pleading guilty to two malicious communications offences in July last year.

His sentence also included being jailed for six weeks, which was suspended for a year.

But soon afterwards, McShane was brought back before the same court to be accused of breaching the order by failing to attend appointments last August.

He denied the allegations and claimed he had completed the two sessions online – and the case was set down for trial.

But he failed to attend the hearing at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on Friday, March 3, and as a result, he was found guilty in his absence.

At his sentencing hearing on Monday, April 3, the Probation Service asked magistrates in South Tyneside to activate the full suspended sentence.

Confirming they had followed that path, Gillian Charlton, chair of the bench, told McShane his single hour of work had made jailing him inevitable.

She added: “You’ve shown total disregard for this court order. We’ve no option but to activate the suspended sentence order.”

Jason Smith, defending, had urged the court to step back from imprisoning McShane – and even suggested the Probation Service reappraise him.

Mr Smith said McShane had also recently spent three weeks on remand for a crime for which he was acquitted.

He insisted the time he had spent behind bars was roughly equal to the chunk of his suspended sentence he would serve, taking into account he would be released early.

He added: “Mr McShane had provided proof that he had done about 20 unpaid work hours online.

“He didn’t attend his trial and stands to serve six weeks in prison, but he’ll probably serve only two-and-a-half.

“You might, in all the circumstances, think it unjust to imprison him.”

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