It's a Joke: Hampshire Watch Thief Threatens to Rip Off Electronic Tag

A Hampshire thief has threatened to rip of his electronic tag.

Damian Evans, 41, of Tarrant Gardens, Havant, admitted an offence of theft when he appeared at Chester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 22nd April 2025.

Theft is an offence under section 1 of the Theft Act 1968. The maximum penalty for theft is 7 years' custody on conviction on indictment, 12 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction. We have previously written an article on the legalities surrounding theft.

Magistrates heard that prolific larcenist walked into the American Golf Store, Boughton, Chester, on the afternoon of Saturday, 14th September 2024.

He removed two Garmin watches from a display cabinet next to the till and left the store without making any attempt at payment. The two watches had a total value of £760.

Staff later noticed that the watches were missing and Evans was identified from CCTV.

Lisa McGuire, prosecuting, told the court that Evans had 49 previous convictions arising from 143 offences, most of them for dishonesty. She said that the theft of the watches required a degree of planning.

Michael Grey, mitigating, told the court that his client, who lived in Portsmouth, was subject to a 7 pm - 7 am curfew, having recently been released from prison. He had been attending a funeral in the Chester area on the day of the theft.

Mr Grey rejected the idea that Evans had stolen the watches to order, saying that he had "seized the opportunity" and acted spontaneously.

According to Mr Grey, Evans had spent £200 travelling to Chester to attend court and was "trying to get himself together".

The Legal Advisor addressed the Bench on the matter of Evans' outstanding fines, which the defendant appeared to take offence and described as "a joke".

Magistrates were of the opinion that Evans' most recent transgression was serious enough to merit a community order.

He was handed a 12 month community order, with the requirement that he be subject to a 26 weeks' electronically monitored curfew requirement, again between 7 pm - 7 am.

Clearly annoyed, the mouthy defendant told the Bench "it's a joke", saying that he shouldn't have bothered to attend and adding "that tag will be getting ripped straight off".

Evans was also ordered to pay £760 in compensation.

Of course should Evans rip his tag off, it's entirely likely he'll be going back to prison.