One more chance for booze thief

6:30pm Monday 22nd September 2008

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By David Paine »

A RECOVERING heroin addict has been given one last chance after he stole bottles of wine and whisky from a petrol station and supermarket.

Lee Shearer admitted both charges of shoplifting when he appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court.

Shearer took the bottles of wine, valued £8.98, from Total service station on Worcester Road, Droitwich, on Thursday before he took the whisky bottles, valued at £41.97, from the town’s Morrisons store in St Andrew’s Square on Saturday.

The whisky was recovered but the two bottles of wine were not.

In mitigation Mark Lister said although his 30-year-old client had a poor record of previous convictions, he had been making good progress since he was made the subject of a community rehabilitation order in August.

He said Shearer, who is now on a prescription for his heroin addiction, had been testing negative for the drug and was also attending all of his appointments with the probation service.

Mr Lister said: “The reason he committed these offences was because he had ran out of alcohol and very stupidly, in a moment of madness, he went in on two occasions and stole alcohol for consumption.”

Magistrates told Shearer, of Ploughman’s Rise, Droitwich, this was his last chance and fined him a total £200, made him pay £8.98 in compensation to Total, as well as £60 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.