Fork-eating burglar ruled fit to serve jail sentence

AN ALCOHOLIC vagrant with eight forks and parts of a mop-head lodged in his stomach has been jailed after psychiatric reports convinced a judge the man was sane, writes Andrew Brown.

Allison Johnson was sentenced to four years at Lincoln Crown Court yesterday on two counts of aggravated burglary. He is 47 and has spent 24 years in prison.

Adrian Robinson, for the defence, said that it was Johnson's habit to go to an expensive restaurant, eat a large meal, and then announce that he could not pay. While awaiting the arrival of the police he would eat the cutlery.

The court was told that he has had at least 30 operations to remove metal from his stomach and has been told by a consultant that he may have only a year to live. 'He is in pain and holds his stomach all the time,' Mr Robinson said.

The Recorder, Michael Lee QC, jailed him for two burglaries in which he had tried to slash an elderly woman with a knife and demanded drink at knifepoint from a man who had to flee.