Drug addict stole from his mother

A RECOVERING heroin addict stole his mother's credit card to get money to feed his addiction as well stealing his ex-girlfriend's car.

Ben Fehily, 27, also broke into a house to steal goods he could sell to buy drugs while he was in the grip of a raging addiction.

Fehily, currently serving another sentence at Norwich Prison, before South East Suffolk magistrates sitting in Ipswich to stealing and using a credit card, making off with payment, taking a car without permission and burgling a house.

Fehily, who has now stopped using heroin, was given an extra five months on the 27-month sentence he began in August after pleading guilty to a robbery on April 15.

Stephen Colman, prosecuting, said that on March 24, Fehily broke into the five-bedroom cottage of a woman in Bredfield whom he knew through his mother.

Witnesses reported seeing three men, including Fehily, outside the property and his footprints were found at the door.

The woman returned to find her side door had been kicked in, a window was broken and there was glass everywhere. Fehily was on bail at the time.

The woman later found a hand-carved, solid silver walking stick top and a blue leather wallet containing £12 were missing.

John Hughes, mitigating, said his client had been suffering from “a raging drug addiction to heroin and crack” and was using as much as he could get his hands on.

He said: “The burglary was purely to obtain money and goods that he could sell for further drugs.

Mr Colman also said that Fehily stole a car from his ex-girlfriend in January this year after their relationship ended.

Mr Hughes said the defendant had not meant to steal the car, and had only kept it for one extra day when it went missing while he was in a crack den.

Fehily also stole a credit card belonging to his mother on October 9 last year and was charged with using it fraudulently six times before November 20.

He admitted using it on additional occasions as well, to a cost of thousands of pounds. MCS Money, the credit card company, will bear the cost as his mother had not given him permission to use it.

He also made off without paying for £25 of goods at NPM services, Capel St Mary on January 13 this year.

Chairwoman of the Bench Dawn Girling told him: “The court commends the fact that you have come off drugs.

“We do hope that you manage to keep that situation as it is for your sake. But we are dealing with three breaches of trust with three different individuals.”