Thief slipped i-phone cover down jogging bottoms in Mansfield

A thief stole an i-phone cover from Boots in Mansfield after his girlfriend told him she couldn't afford it, a court heard.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

Jonathon Barrett, 23, of Pickard Street, admitted stealing the £16 item from the store in the Four Seasons shopping centre, on January 25.

“She told him she didn’t have any means of paying and he put it down his jogging bottoms and walked out,” said Robert Carr, prosecuting.

Barrett was last in court for theft in 2015, but a community order was imposed in 2016 after he borrowed a friend’s car and crashed it.

The court heard he failed to turn up for unpaid work on February 14, because he couldn’t leave the house due to anxiety, but he was unable to produce a medical note.

Sarah Alderton, of the probation service, said his mental health issues made the unpaid work order unworkable.

She said: “He admits the majority of his offending was shoplifting for financial gain. He moved from Swindon quite recently to live with his girlfriend and her two children. He is repaying a budget loan from the Job Centre and court costs.”

Barrett was given a new 12 month community order, with 15 days of rehabilitation activity to address his thinking skills.

He was fined £50 and ordered to pay £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge at Mansfield Magistrates Court on Thursday.