A PROLIFIC offender who travelled to the county to commit crime has today been sent to prison for numerous offences carried out across Cumbria.

Paul Henry Wilkinson, 35, of Mortimer Road, South Shields, was sentenced to 4 years and 4 months in prison at Carlisle Crown Court today after pleading guilty to the following offences:

- Possession with intent to supply heroin, a Class A controlled drug.

- Possession of cannabis, a Class B controlled drug;

- Possession of diazepam, a class C controlled drug;

- Possession of criminal property, relating to the money located in his possession;

- Assault ABH on a police constable;

- 3 counts of theft;

- Handling stolen goods;

- Driving whilst disqualified and driving without insurance.

The crimes first came to light on July 20, 2016, when police attended the scene of a single-vehicle collision on Penrith Road, Keswick.

When officers arrived at the scene, Wilkinson, the driver of the vehicle, made off on foot.

He was pursued by PC Harley Young. However, Wilkinson then set about attacking PC Young who was kicked in the chest and punched to the back of the head and shoulder.

However, with the help of Sergeant Nathan Greenhow, Wilkinson was successfully detained and arrested.

The reason Wilkinson fled became clear when a sports bag he was carrying was found to contain large quantities of controlled drugs.

In total, 190 grams of heroin (with a street value of £9,512) was located in the bag, along with 41.47 grams of cannabis (with a street value of £414.70) and a total of 224 Diazepam tablets (with a street value of £224).

In addition Wilkinson was found to be in possession of £3,290 cash.

Following Wilkinson’s arrest and a search of his vehicle, it became clear he had been involved in a crime spree that had lasted a number of days and had involved a number of thefts from unattended motor vehicles and non-dwelling burglaries that had been committed in the Penrith and Keswick areas.

Stolen property was located in Wilkinson’s car and in two tents in which he had been staying at Castlerigg Hall camping site, Keswick. The value of the goods stolen totalled several thousand pounds.

Wilkinson’s phone also indicated that he had been actively researching locations to sell on the stolen goods for his own gain.

Detective Sergeant Duncan Brooker said: “Wilkinson is a prolific criminal from the North East who travelled to Cumbria for one reason; to commit crime. At the time of committing the offences last July Wilkinson was on prison licence for an offence of robbery for which he had been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

“In total, prior to his sentencing, Wilkinson had amassed a total of 22 convictions for 82 offences, ranging from numerous driving offences through to thefts, burglaries and class A drugs trafficking. When interviewed by detectives Wilkinson refused to speak. He neither assisted us with our enquiries or showed any type of remorse for his crimes or towards his victims.

“Had Wilkinson’s own actions not brought him to the attention of the police in the manor it did, there is little doubt that Wilkinson would have continued on his crime spree and many more residents of North and West Cumbria would have become victims.

“We are pleased with the sentence imposed today and hope that this serves as a deterrent both to Wilkinson and to others who consider travelling to Cumbria with sole intention of committing crime. We work hard to try and prevent crime, but when it does occur we work equally hard to try and detect it and bring offenders to justice.”