Man given Britain's 'shortest ever' prison sentence, spends just 50 minutes behind bars

A man in the U.K. spent as much time behind bars as it takes to watch an episode of Stranger Things after receiving what is being called the country's shortest ever prison sentence.

Shane Jenkins, 23, was ordered to spend just 50 minutes in jail, during which time he was told to write apology letters to those affected by his crime.

Jenkins pleaded guilty to damaging property, assaulting police officers and escaping custody in May, stemming from a 2016 incident in which Jenkins broke his former partner's window and then ran from the police.

The judge sentenced him to 80 hours of unpaid work and rehabilitation requirements and ordered him to abstain from taking drugs. Jenkins was was also given a separate, four-month prison sentence, which the judge suspended for two years.

But the most peculiar punishment came immediately after sentencing, when Bristol Crown Court judge Julian Lambert handed Jenkins his brief prison assignment.

"Given the opportunity [Jenkins] would like to apologize to [his ex] and the officers," William Rose, Jenkins' attorney said in court.

Judge Lambert apparently accepted that offer, sending him to jail so he could write letters to his former partner and the police officers he evaded. After 50 minutes, Jenkins returned to the judge with two handwritten notes.

"It was a stupid decision I made, I wasn't thinking straight," Jenkins said in the letter to his former partner.

Jenkins's lawyer said his client blamed his behavior on an excess of cocaine and marijuana.

"You will not be a drug-hazed layabout," Judge Lambert told Jenkins, who declined to comment while in court.

It's difficult to determine whether this is officially Britain's shortest prison sentence, but it's almost certainly not the shortest ever given worldwide. In fact, a 1906 article in the Los Angeles Herald discussed the case of Joseph Munch, who allegedly served a sentence of just one minute.

Munch, a soldier stationed at Fort Lawton in Seattle, was reportedly charged with drunk and disorderly conduct. He was originally sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $100 fine, according to the article, but after a successful appeal he was asked to serve a 60-second stint in jail instead.