A MAN who was caught apparently breaking into a house has been jailed not for burglary but for breaking Spain’s coronavirus lockdown regulations.
A judge in Arenas de San Pedro (Avila) sentenced the 19-year-old to four months in prison for the crime of serious disobedience.
The court heard that the convicted man had been stopped three times for being out on the streets without good cause before he was finally arrested when he was allegedly in the course of a burglary.
He had already been arrested for breaching confinement on March 23, 28 and 29 and warned by another judge that if he did so again, he would have committed the crime of disobedience.
Not only did the judge sentence him to four months in prison after the latest incident, but he refused to suspend the sentence, as is customary for first offenders sentenced to less than two years jail.
According to a written sentence, the judge decided there were “sufficient indications” that the 19-year-old was taking advantage of the lockdown to commit crime.
The man still awaits trial for burglary.