A MAGISTRATE gave a drug addict a lecture on “health and safety” after he was caught stealing lead from the roof of a Worcester church.

Anthony Billingsley was spotted on the roof of St George’s RC Church, Sansome Walk, at about 7am on Thursday.

The police were called and Billingsley, aged 32, was arrested and taken to Worcester Police Station, where he was kept overnight before appearing at Worcester Magistrates Court.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of stealing lead flashing from Gascoyne House and attempting to steal lead from the roof St George’s Church.

Liam Finch, prosecuting, said. “On the morning of September 29, at 6.45am, he is seen taking lead from the roof of outbuildings of St George’s Church.

“He was later seen attempting to steal lead from the church roof.” Mr Finch said all of the lead was recovered when Billingsley, of Crickley Drive, Warndon, was arrested.

“But the mischief is caused by the buildings being left unprotected,” he said. The cost of the damage is estimated at about £300.

Ruth Edwardes, defending, said her client was a drug addict with 26 theft offences on his record but was trying to turn his life around.Billingsley had arranged appointments with the local drug team on his own and was going to collect his first prescription for methadone.

“He’s said to me ‘You know me, I can do whatever the courts give me, but I’m 32. I’ve really got to stop [taking drugs]’,” said Ms Edwards.

Chairman of the bench Keith Stokes-Smith said: “You have quite an impressive – but not in a good way – record. We are encouraged to take this type of offence very seriously.”

He added: “It also seems unwise, if you are on drugs, to be climbing around on roofs – but that’s a matter for you.”

The bench ordered a full pre-sentence report and released Billingsley on bail with a curfew of 7pm to 7am and a condition to live at his home address. Billingsley will next appear in court on Friday, October 21.