A man stole skincare items from Boots in order to clear his former partner’s drug debt, a court was told.
Darren Smith admitted to stealing £230.20 worth of items from the Boots store in Ipswich on July 12, appearing before Suffolk Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
The 50-year-old was described in court as “something of a prolific offender”, but it was said that his offending had become less and less frequent in the past two years.
The court heard that Smith had been clean from drugs for about nine to 10 months, and had worked with the support service Turning Point to turn his life around.
It was heard that Smith had plans to become a self-employed electrician, once he had achieved the necessary qualification.
However, it was said that Smith’s partner at the time still struggled with addiction and had accrued debt with drug dealers. The situation “culminated” in July with Smith stealing the skincare items from Boots in an effort for them to be free of this debt.
It was heard that upon his arrest, Smith freely admitted this to police. It was heard that his relationship with the partner has since ended.
His arrested activated a conditional discharge imposed upon him in January, which had ordered him to commit no further crimes for the next 12 months.
The presiding magistrates told Smith that the conditional discharge imposed on him had been “your opportunity”.
“For reasons known to yourself, you have squandered that opportunity, and that’s a great shame,” the magistrates told Smith.
Smith, of St John's Road, Ipswich, was ordered to pay compensation for the items stolen, and was told that the conditional discharge would remain in place.
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