Jailed: Telford shoplifter asks to be sent to prison
A shoplifter whose life was slipping out of control asked to be sent to prison so he could kick his drug habit.
Magistrates at Telford were told that Barry John Barnes had been attending meetings with the probation service but had become increasingly gripped by his drug addiction.
Barnes pleaded guilty to one charge of theft, admitting that he had stolen £36 of alcohol from the Co-op shop in Dawley.
Mrs Kelly Crowe, prosecuting, said that Barnes had been seen on August 12, leaving the store carrying the bottles without paying for them.
The court heard that Barnes, 35, was on bail for other matters at the time of the offence and also on a conditional discharge for similar crimes.
"His drug addiction is so high that he needs to steal in order to afford it," said Mrs Crowe.
She said that Barnes had been released from prison in March after serving time for burglary and although his initial contact with the Probation Service had been good, it had deteriorated.
When Barnes, of no fixed address, had handed himself to police he had even brought a rucksack packed and ready to be sent to custody, said Mrs Crowe.
Barnes was given eight weeks in prison for the Dawley theft. His conditional discharge was revoked and replaced with another eight-week prison sentence to run concurrently. He was told to pay a £80 victim surcharge and £150 criminal courts charge. For the Probation Service, Mr Paul Kalita said that Barnes had been doing quite well, but added that "he's slowly slipping out of control".
Mr Jonathan Mason, for Barnes said probation supervision was "not enough" and that he "needs to go to prison, get clean, serve some time and then get released".
"He's too far down the line to be able to get it done in the community," he added.
