A Warwick man was jailed for three years after he admitted breaking into a Hamilton gas station just hours after being released from prison.Clinton Smith, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary in connection to a series of incidents beginning on July 28.Magistrates’ Court heard that CCTV cameras at the BIU Service Station on Dundonald Street, recorded Smith kicking in the front door around 8.05pm on July 28, and entering an office before running out.Staff told police that $595 was taken from the store during the daylight burglary.The next morning, staff at the RUBiS Service Station, on Crow Lane, noticed that the back window of that station had been smashed open with a rock and a small, empty bottle of Hennesy was laying on the ground.Cameras in the store reportedly showed Smith breaking the glass door and rummaging through the cash register area and an office before leaving.Damage to the door caused around $2,000 to repair.Smith later told police that while in the building, he stole a soda valued at $1.50.Days later, at around 1.35am on August 2, Smith attempted to break into the BIU Service Station again, but was confronted by an on-duty security officer.Smith had been released from prison on the same day as the first offence, having served a four-year sentence for burglary.Duty counsel Kimberly Caines told the court that Smith was trying to turn his life around and be a father to his child.Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner responded: “When is he trying to do that?“He just got out of prison for smashing up places all around Hamilton. The only thing to do in this situation is to send him back to prison.”Mr Warner sentenced Smith to three years’ imprisonment for the July 28 burglary, accompanied by a two-year period of probation.He also sentenced Smith to two years in prison for the July 29 burglary and one year imprisonment for the charge of attempted burglary, but ordered all three sentences to run concurrently.