A 36-YEAR-OLD man who went into a Blackburn bookmaker’s shop and smashed 15 televisions and two fixed odds terminals has escaped an immediate jail sentence.

Blackburn magistrates heard Farhan Choudhry had been drinking heavily before he went into the Betfred shop in Audley Range armed with a dumb-bell bar.

But a customer who spoke to him said Choudhry was ‘calm and placid’ throughout and after the incident.

The court heard Choudhry told police he had lost £25,000 to the bookies over a number of years.

He had gone into the shop at 10.49am on September 25 and had proceeded to smash TV screens and terminals before leaving.

The court had previously been told he had caused such significant damage they had to close the shop.

Choudhry, of Queens Park Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to criminal damage.

He was sentenced to eight weeks in prison suspended for 12 months, made subject to community supervision for 12 months with an alcohol treatment requirement and ordered to pay £500 compensation.