POLICE have been forced to return 70 lawnmowers to a convicted burglar after they could not prove they were stolen.
Magistrates fined Irish expat Tom Edwards, 51, of Robin Way, Chelmsford, £110 after he was caught drunkenly stumbling down the street with his neighbour's lawnmower in a wheelbarrow on June 21.
At 3am that night, police raided the unemployed grandfather's shed before telling local media 70 lawnmowers had been recovered and appealing to members of the public who may have had gardening equipment stolen to come forward.
But they were all returned to Edwards after he revealed that he actually buys broken lawnmowers online for as little as 50 pence, before fixing them and selling them on.
"I am gutted that I did it and I am sorry for any inconvenience I caused," said Edwards, a father-of-five, who said his daughters were in tears when police carried out the raid.
"But the 70 lawnmowers are not stolen and it feels like humiliation.
"Now all my neighbours are turning away from me because they think I've stolen 70 lawnmowers. Some are saying they're talking about me at Neighbourhood Watch.
"I still don't know why I did it, I was drunk."
Edwards says he is sorry for breaking through the garden gate in Widford Road before raiding the resident's garage and unlocked Volvo parked outside.
During the incident, Scott Swanick, 37, was at home across the road putting his son to bed when he heard his neighbour's car door slam.
Mr Swanick, who owns a storage company, called the police who told him to follow Edwards but not approach him.
"He was hammered and his trousers were falling down to his ankles," he said.
"He was wheeling my neighbour's garden tools and lawnmower in a wheelbarrow, he was all over the place.
"This guy wasn't being discreet, it was quite comical.
"I'm surprised they have returned all his lawnmowers, although it would take up so many resources for the police to try and identify everyone who has had one stolen."
Mr Swanick followed Edwards up Widford Road, where the police arrived and arrested him.
Mr Swanick's 61-year-old retired neighbour, who does not want to be identified, said he forgot to lock his Volvo that night.
Edwards, who is originally from Roscommon, visited the victim's home three days later to apologise but says neighbours told him to leave.
"I don't believe he wants to say sorry. I phoned the police up and said do me a favour and tell him to go away.
"I said I don't care if he gets two years or ten weeks in jail, I don't want to be his buddy," said the victim, who suffers from heart and lung problems.
Edwards pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court last Wednesday to theft and burglary.
He was fined £110, given a 12-month community order and an electronically tagged curfew between 9pm and 7am.
Craig Tipper, mitigating, said: "He found the garage open and the keys in the ignition of the car and thought it was going to be scrapped. There was no damage caused."
The court also heard how Edwards had been unemployed for four years after a nervous breakdown, following his marriage break-up and the collapse of his London-based plant hire and groundwork business.
A police spokesman said: "While a number of items were seized following Mr Edwards' arrest, police were unable to establish whether these were stolen and as such these were returned."
