A 27-YEAR-old Ipswich man who claimed a drug dealer forced him to steal computer games is today behind bars.

A 27-YEAR-old Ipswich man who claimed a drug dealer forced him to steal computer games is today behind bars.

Gavin Gant entered HMVin Ipswich and grabbed Playstation games worth £194 before fleeing in what was described in court as an “amateurish attempt at theft”.

The incident happened just days after Gant, who lives at Roundwood Road, was put on a suspended sentence for a similar offence.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of theft when he appeared at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court in Ipswich yesterday .

Sandra Dyer, prosecuting, said: “A security officer was monitoring the cameras shortly after 1pm on April 19.

“He (Gant) was seen to remove several games from the shelf and ran out into the street.

“He was chased and he dropped the games.”

John Hughes, mitigating, said Gant's drug dealer frightened him into committing the offence.

He said: “In the days leading up to the event he had received a number of threatening texts from his dealer saying if he didn't pay his debts he would be 'cut up'.

“He was coming into town when he bumped into the dealer outside the Tower Ramparts Shopping Centre.

“The dealer said if he didn't steal something he could sell he would 'sort him out'.

“He walked with him to HMV and waited outside.

“It was an amateurish attempt at theft but he was put in a terrible situation with a genuine fear for his safety.”

The Ipswich magistrates sentenced Gant to six weeks in prison for the theft and 16 weeks for committing an offence while on a suspended sentence.