A newlywed bridegroom is starting his married life in jail after he jumped bail to get married.
Michael Brown paid the price for deciding that his wedding day more important than a court appearance when he was remanded in custody by a Judge at Exeter Crown Court.
The 48-year-old burglar skipped bail and got married in Jamaica four days before he was due to be sentenced for breaking into student lodgings.
He handed himself into police when he returned from his honeymoon this week and has now been remanded in custody until he is sentenced later this month.
Brown, of King Arthurs Road, Exeter, admitted burglary. He has a lengthy criminal record in which he has repeatedly failed to answer bail in the past.
Mr Rupert Taylor, defending, told Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, his client had just returned from his honeymoon.
He said:"He accepts he did not come to court as he should have done on December 19 but he had gone to get married. His wife arranged the wedding and he did not want to disappoint her.
"He attended the wedding and the honeymoon and then returned and handed himself into Heavitree Road police station.
"He is due to be sentenced for burglary with intent to steal. He was found in the communal area of a multi occupancy student dwelling."
Mr Taylor asked for the case to be adjourned for a pre sentence report and said his client failed to attend a previous appointment with the probation service because he fell off his bicycle on the way to the meeting.
Judge Gilbert noted Brown's 25 year history of bail act offences and remanded him in custody. He said:"I'm afraid he is going to have to stay where he is."
