THIS man is today preparing to carry out unpaid work after he stole from a charity which provides furniture to low-income families.

THIS man is today preparing to carry out unpaid work after he stole from a charity which provides furniture to low-income families.

Stuart Fisk was caught with a swag bag of goods - including a wall clock, curtains and mirrors - which he burgled from the Ipswich Furniture Project's premises in Hogarth Road.

A project manager at the charity today said the incident was very sad.

Bob Whitehead said: “As a charity, we help people on low incomes, so it is disappointing when someone targets us. “We run at a loss and have to raise funds to support ourselves.”

Fisk, 34, who has schizophrenia, was also found with a tax disc taken from a van belonging to the organisation, along with his own bolt cutters and a hammer.

Fisk, of Lackford Place, Ipswich admitted burglary, going equipped to burgle and theft from a motor vehicle which took place on March 14.

Magistrates in Ipswich heard how the police were alerted in the early hours of the morning by a member of the public who saw a bag being thrown over a wall enclosing the Ipswich Furniture Project's premises.

Officers later found Fisk in Reynolds Road with a bag containing the stolen items.

Fisk said he had jumped over the wall to the charity's premises to look for a spare part for his bike. Instead, he found the passenger window on the van smashed, but he couldn't explain why he had taken the tax disc.

He also said he found the doors to the property ajar and took the items inside.

But Ms Small, prosecuting at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, said: “The Ipswich Furniture Project said the building and the van was secure when they left that evening.”

While Fisk was in custody, police searched his home and found one gram of amphetamines valued at �5 and a gas-powered handgun.

Fisk pleaded guilty to possessing the drugs and the weapon.

Ian Persaud, mitigating, said Fisk had spent two years at St Clement's Hospital in Ipswich from 2006.

In total, Fisk was told to carry out 140 hours unpaid work during a 12-month supervision order and has to pay �50 in compensation to the Ipswich Furniture Project plus �65 in court costs.