Burnley pair threatened to put thief in car boot (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Burnley pair threatened to put thief in car boot

11:11am Monday 7th March 2011 in Worsthorne By Wendy Barlow, Court reporter

A MAN who threatened to bundle a teenage thief into a car boot, and a woman who joined in the trouble, have received suspended sentences.

Max Wynn, 22, accepted he repeatedly punched the 16-year-old victim and had told him ‘you're going in the boot’, whilst Chanel Conlan, 18, manhandled the youth.

The pair had gone out looking for the victim and Wynn was to tell the police he had been really angry, Burnley Crown Court was told.

At the time, Wynn was on licence from a jail term for possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

His co-defendant had no previous convictions.

They both admitted assault, last September.

Wynn, of Inchfield, Worsthorne, was given 24 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, with 100 hours’ unpaid work.

Conlan, of Lowerhouse Lane, Burnley, received 12 weeks in detention, suspended for a year, with 60 hours’ unpaid work.

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt said the offence was premeditated and preplanned.

She said: “There can never be a justification for taking the law into your own hands.”

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, said the victim admitted stealing £350 from a house.

Wynn told police he had had no intention of kidnapping the youth, but had wanted to scare him. He admitted assaulting him.

Philip Holden, for Wynn, said he had been very frank from the outset.

For Conlan, Paul Hodgkinson said she came from a supportive, hard-working family with an impeccable background.