A LANDSCAPE gardener from near Worcester was spotted towing a stolen trailer by the rightful owner who recognised it because of a hole in the bottom.

Frankie Butler of Pershore Lane, Hindlip, near Worcester admitted handling stolen goods - but there was some quibbling about the value of the stolen trailer.

The 31-year-old dad, who had a previous conviction for handling stolen goods, pleaded guilty to handling when he appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The trailer was stolen from Richard Dormer in Redditch on June 4 this year and it was the victim himself who spotted what he thought was his trailer being pulled by a green Land Rover Freelander containing two males at around 3pm.

"He realised it was his trailer - there was a hole in the centre of the floor of the trailer" said Ralph Robyns-Landricombe, prosecuting. Mr Dormer returned home to find his trailer was gone, turning around and attempting to follow the Land Rover but could not catch up.

Officers performed an area search and discovered a trailer matching the description provided by Mr Dormer being towed along Old Turnpike Road in the direction of Worcester before it was stopped in Netherwood Lane. At 3.30pm Butler was arrested on suspicion of theft of the trailer.

The owner was able to identify it from the chassis number and other marks upon it. Butler answered no comment to questions put to him by police in interview but told them the other male with him was his nephew.

Butler was also before the court in 2017 for handling stolen goods. No value was provided for the trailer but Mr Robyns-Landricombe said: "It's probably at the very least worth £1,000."

However, Judith Kenney, for Butler, took issue with this valuation. Mrs Kenney said: "We deal in evidence, not in suppositions. It had a hole in it."

She argued that as a result of the lack of any evidence about the value, the offence should fall in category four and not category three in the sentencing guidelines, telling the bench: "It's not for us advocates in court to second guess."

Mrs Kenney said there was 'some spontaneity' to the offence and that her client, a landscape gardener, had no qualifications with limited reading and writing abilities. "He's not heavily convicted. He has not been able to work at all during the pandemic."

By his plea she said Butler had 'fallen on his sword', that he had a child born in 2019 and another on the way in five weeks time. His pregnant wife supported him at court.

The solicitor told magistrates that the starting point was a low level community order and urged the bench to 'hit him in the pocket where it hurts'.

Magistrates fined him £120, disqualified him from driving for 28 days, ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £33 and costs of £185.