A MAN has been jailed for six months for a string of offences including stealing lead from a disused building.

John Humphreys, 33, was identified from CCTV acting suspiciously outside The Grange, a disused building on the site of the Harwich and Dovercourt High School, in Hall Lane, Dovercourt on Saturday, February 8.

Lead guttering was removed, causing damage costing about £5,000 to repair.

The lead was found hidden in undergrowth, where it was recovered before Humphreys had a chance to remove it.

A motorbike was stolen from Manor Road, Dovercourt on Friday, March 6.

The following morning, police were called to a man acting suspiciously in West End Lane and officers found Humphreys with the stolen motorbike.

He ran off and threw a pair of trainers at an officer in an attempt to ward him off, but following a foot chase he was shortly caught and arrested.

Humphreys, of no fixed address, was arrested and later charged with attempted theft of the lead, dishonestly receiving stolen goods, possession of cannabis, possession of amphetamine, and assaulting an emergency worker.

He admitted the charges at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Monday, March 9 and was jailed at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday, April 30.