A LIBRARY intruder found with a mug and spoon was ‘trying to make a cup of coffee’, a court heard.

Conor Madison, 24, entered Whitehaven Library through a window on August 29, 2022.

Police received a call that there was an intruder in the building. When officers arrived, they found the defendant talking to a security officer, Workington Magistrates' Court heard.

Pamela Fee, prosecuting, said Madison was in possession of a pink mug and a spoon. He claimed to be looking for documents in the library building. The security officer said he found Madison upstairs next to a broken window.

Then on August 30, 2022, police received a call that a male had broken into a garage on Rope Walk, Coach Road, in Whitehaven.

He had stolen a set of keys, a screwdriver, screwdriver bits, a car phone charger, a tin of primer, a tin of spray paint and a Ford car key.

The owner of the garage confirmed the items were his and the defendant had no right to take them.

Madison was interviewed by police and said he had been given permission to go into the library by two women who he named.

He said he was starting work there and couldn’t find his keys. He said he opened a window to get in. He was looking for milk to get a coffee.

Madison said he knew the alarm code but ‘wasn’t forthcoming with this’.

In relation to the incident at the garage, Madison said somebody gave him the keys. He said he had been released from custody and had gone to the outbuilding where he had stayed the night.

He had become ‘angry’ and ‘aggressive’ towards the end of the police interview, the court was told.

Mike Woolaghan, defending, said: “What he told police at the time, he recognises is not true.

“Conor’s presentation today is a million per cent better than it appeared at the end of 2022. His presentation was particularly concerning.

“There was intervention with the police for welfare issues. There was undiagnosed gender dysphoria at that point.

“Since 2022, there is no further criminality alleged against him. His behaviour was driven by the mental health predicament he was in at the time.”

Madison, of Nursery Place, Hensingham, Whitehaven, pleaded guilty to burglary other than dwelling – theft and burglary other than dwelling with intent to steal.

Magistrates fined the defendant £80 and ordered him to pay a £32 victim surcharge.