A re-lapsed drug addict from Goole appeared before the town's magistrates earlier this week charged with a string of shoplifting offences.
Published on 10th May 2007 in News
A re-lapsed drug addict from Goole appeared before the town's magistrates earlier this week charged with a string of shoplifting offences.
Lee Ward (32), of Dempster Avenue, pleaded guilty to seven charges of theft and admitted to a breach of a community order when he appeared at Goole Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Julie Laverack Glanville told the court that around 10am on March 9, CCTV footage from the Sainsbury's at Jacksons store in Boothferry Road showed Mr Ward placing three jars of coffee into his jacket before leaving the store.
Later the same day, Mr Ward returned to the shop and was reported to have stolen quantities of bacon, to the value of £6.78, from the fridge. When arrested on the same day, Mr Ward was said to have 'openly' admitted stealing the goods.
A similar incident took place in the town's Tesco supermarket on March 20, when Mr Ward was spotted entering the store by a security guard and was seen to place three packs of bacon into his jacket. He was stopped as he tried to leave the shop, and handed the products back.
In two further incidents on March 25, once again in the Sainsbury's at Jacksons store, Mr Ward was seen by staff to steal three jars of coffee, to the value of £17.99, before later returning to the store and making off with another jar of coffee that he placed inside a holdall.
Mrs Laverack Glanville told that court that Mr Ward handed over the goods when confronted, and fully admitted that he intended to sell the items to make money for drugs.
On April 10, Mr Ward stole two joints of meat from the Farmfoods store in North Street, before stealing a baby monitor worth £19.99 from the Lidl supermarket in North Street on April 14. He was later arrested.
Defending, Mr David Lockheart said that the value of the items that Mr Ward stole in seven separate thefts came to £73.89, which was "not a huge value for offences of this nature".
The court heard that despite being a heroin addict for two years, from 1995 until 1997, Mr Ward had been clean of drugs until late last year when his relationship with his partner of nine years broke down.
Mr Lockheart said: "He lost his partner, his job, his savings and eventually his house. He re-lapsed into drugs."
Mr Lockheart added that whilst being in custody, his client had resisted becoming involved in illicit drugs for the last three weeks and had become drug free.
In considering the case, magistrates revoked Mr Ward's existing community order and issued him with a 12-month community order, including a supervision order and a drug rehabilitation requirement. Mr Ward was ordered to pay £38.21 in compensation to Sainsbury's at Jacksons for un-recovered goods, as well as court costs of £55.