Asbo brothers face Christmas in prison
THREE yob brothers responsible for a one-family crime wave were finally behind bars yesterday to the relief of their long-suffering neighbours.
The Muttram clan – nicknamed the Asbros – have terrorised their community in a decade-long campaign of violence, drug abuse, indecent assault, intimidation, theft and vandalism.
But the trio now face spending Christmas together in prison after they admitted the latest addition to their extensive criminal record – aggravated burglary.
Prosecutor Andrew Maitland spent more than 10 minutes reading out the brothers’ long list of previous convictions – and even then it was only a summary.
The Plymouth-based Muttrams – Michael, 25, Lee, 19, and Jamie, 18 – have appeared in court scores of times charged with dozens of offences. Each has been subject of numerous Anti-Social Behaviour Orders but none has had any effect.
Michael has a nine-year record which includes sexual harassment and assaulting a pregnant woman. Lee has a history of driving offences and once left his electronic tag at the scene after crashing a stolen motorbike.
Jamie has a record for battery, burglary, vandalism and threatening a witness. Other crimes include drunkenness, affray, assault on police, indecent exposure, aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified, shoplifting and going equipped to steal.
The brothers were once even charged over the theft of a neighbour’s parrot. At Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday, Judge Miranda Robertshaw described the litany of offences as “appalling” and remanded all three in custody until the New Year when they will be sentenced.
She ordered pre-sentence reports on all three from the Probation Service but warned it was not a question of if they would be jailed but for how long. She said: “You all have quite appalling records and the impact of your offending on others has been quite disastrous.”
As she spoke, supporters of the Muttrams gathered outside the court hoping the Asbros would win bail. A group of police officers, one armed with a Taser stun gun, kept watch. After the hearing, Detective Inspector John Ardron, of Plymouth CID, said community power had finally brought the brothers to book.
He said: “The guilty pleas are the result of the community itself who stood up against this criminality and gave information and statements in an effort to make their town safer. We could not have got these guilty pleas if the residents hadn’t come forward. It is their refusal to be intimidated which has led to the Muttrams appearing in court and pleading guilty.
“We would also like to thank the judge for her robust stance. We can only hope that residents will now enjoy some respite from the Muttram boys.”