by Lisa Brown

 BRIDGEWATER - A Bridgewater man was sent to jail for five months March 10 after he took off his electronic ankle bracelet, left home and got drunk all while he was supposed to be on house arrest.

 Fifty-three-year-old George Falt admitted he breached his conditional sentence when he appeared in Bridgewater provincial court just hours after his offence.

 He'd been arrested after police responded to a call about a suspicious man banging on a window at a King Street store around 2:30 a.m. Officers located Mr. Falt crouching near a stairwell in an adjacent alley.

 He was on the conditional sentence as a result of a break and enter conviction. He'd broken into an abandoned house in Stellarton intending to steal copper pipe.

 The 15-month conditional sentence, handed down in November, included a year on house arrest.

 Noting the "tremendous break" Mr. Falt had initially been given and the "blatant" breach of the order, Crown attorney Lloyd Tancock suggested the man be required to serve the remainder of the time he would have been on house arrest in custody.

 Mr. Falt told the court he's a long-time alcoholic who started drinking when he was 12. Although he's had extended periods of sobriety, he started drinking again as a result of some family difficulties.

 Judge Bill MacDonald sentenced Mr. Falt to serve the next five months in jail. After that, the conditional sentence order will resume.

posted on 03/16/10