British judge sentences thief in verse

LONDON - A car thief who wrote poems about his criminal past has been sentenced by a British judge in verse.

Steven Snell, 26, wrote odes about his crimes while he was in remand waiting for his sentence.

Judge Richard Bray of the Northampton Crown Court sent him to 20 months in prison, while announcing the sentence in his own stanzas, The Sun reported Friday.

“Right now you feel down/You have got months to do/Despite what you have done/Let us hope the locked door/Will make you more sure/Not to come back for more,” the judge said.

Snell had stolen a car from Rothley in Leicestershire. He filled it with petrol before fleeing the garage without paying. He then crashed into a lorry before trying to escape in another car.