Lead thief drug addict jailed

Dean Wesley Smith, 24, also known as Roberts, of Castleton Boulevard, further admitted four offences of shoplifting when he appeared before magistrates at Skegness last week.

The court was told that at about 12 noon on June 11, Smith and another man were seen ripping lead from the roof of a porch at a property in Jobson Road in Horncastle.

Smith was stopped by the police and was found to have the lead in a carrier bag which he admitted he was going to sell.

It was said he caused £180 worth of damage.

In mitigation, Mr Saleem Khan asked the magistrates to take a pragmatic view of the case.

He said Smith was already serving a custodial sentence and was due to be released on September 30 and he asked that that release date be kept in place.

He said that but for his admissions, the other offences would not have been solved and Smith was anxious to leave prison with a clean sheet.

Mr Khan added that Smith’s offending was a direct result of his heroin addiction, which Smith had been taking steps to overcome and he would be under the care of Addaction when he was released from prison.

Magistrates sentenced Smith to four weeks imprisonment to run alongside his existing prison sentence, which meant he will still be released on September 30, and to pay £180 in compensation.