A 25-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for four months after nearly £3,000 of damage was caused to the inside of his Housing Executive flat in Enniskillen.

Kevin Williamson, whose address was given as HMP Maghaberry, also illegally extracted over £1,000 of electricity from the property.

Appearing before Fermanagh Magistrates Court on Monday, via videolink from prison, he pleaded guilty to damaging the interior of a flat at Derrin Park and dishonestly using a quantity of electricity on May 2, 2017.

The court heard that, on May 2 last year, housing officers from the Housing Executive attended the flat in Derrin Park and observed damage inside valued at £2,842.20.

They also noted that the electricity meter at the property had been re-wired and units of electricity were not being recorded.

The total loss to the electricity company was £1,208.60, the court heard.

The defendant was the sole occupant of the property at the time. He was subsequently arrested and interviewed.

During the questioning, he was shown photographs of the damage caused.

Williamson would only admit to removing a window at the flat. He added that no-one else would have been in the flat without his knowledge, unless access had been gained through the damaged window.

When asked about the electricity meter, the defendant made no comment.

Defending counsel, Steffan Rafferty, told the court that his client still insisted that other people may have been in and out of the property and caused the damage.

However, the barrister added that Williamson now accepted that, as the sole tenant, he had been solely responsible for the property.

Mr. Rafferty said that the defendant wanted to apologise for the damage done, while not admitting culpability.

Explaining about the electricity extraction, the barrister said that Williamson had been having difficulties with his meter and had sought to get it fixed or replaced.

Mr.Rafferty said that the defendant had then asked a friend to have a look.

This friend had installed a device on the meter and it later transpired what he had done was “improper”, the barrister told the court.

District judge, Nigel Broderick, observed that the defendant had a “poor record”, and, first and foremost, a lot of damage had been caused to Housing Executive property.

Ruling that the custodial threshold had been crossed, the judge imposed a four-month jail term and ordered Williamson to pay a £25 offender levy.