Toe injury thief from Colne is spared prison (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Toe injury thief from Colne is spared prison

7:00pm Friday 22nd February 2013 in Pendle

A DIY enthusiast who accidentally chopped off his big toe was spared immediate jail after a thieving expedition.

Father-of-two Martin Roy Blenkinsopp, 40, said to have cut off the toe with an angle grinder, had then “taped it back on himself” and had sat in the house for two days because he was frightened of hospitals, Burnley magistrates had heard.

The first time he set foot out of his front door after treatment was on January 20, when he stole a saw, two knives and other items from a skip at the back of Matalan, Colne.

The defendant, of Birtwistle Avenue, Colne, had admitted possessing a knife blade or sharp pointed article in a public place at Windy Bank, and theft.

Blenkinsopp received eight weeks in custody, suspended for 12 months, with 150 hours unpaid work.