Two men caught attempting to raid a Hampstead shop on a stolen moped will be sentenced days before Christmas.
Michael McDonagh, 19, was due to be sentenced on Friday but the case was adjourned after he missed a probation meeting.
His paranoid schizophrenic mother went missing the day he was supposed to attend, Highbury Corner Magistrates Court heard.
Sentencing was adjourned until December 22.
McDonagh, of Tottenham, pleaded guilty with co-defendant Tony Moran, 23, to an attempted burglary of Londis in South End Road on November 19.
Undercover police officers had followed the pair after watching two mopeds race up Haverstock Hill. They alerted CCTV operators, followed them and watched as the criminals started to smash the shutters of the shop.
They were arrested at the scene. McDonagh, of Sycamore Gardens, Tottenham, admitted attempted burglary and being carried in a vehicle without the owners’ consent.
Moran, of no fixed abode, admitted attempted burglary, taking a motor vehicle without consent, driving while disqualified and without insurance.
He will be sentenced on December 23 at Blackfriars Crown Court.
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