Market Drayton drug addict jailed for using stolen card

Carl Bott got £250 cash and bought beer and lottery tickets before staff at a One Stop Shop confiscated the card.

The defendant, who tried to claim it belonged to his grandmother, told police he found the 83-year-old victim's purse which contained the card and the PIN number.

Bott, of The Oval, Market Drayton, was jailed for a total of 20 months for the card fraud and being involved in two burglaries and handling stolen property.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that Bott had previous convictions for assault, possession of drugs and possession of an offensive weapon.

Judge Robin Onions told Bott that he had been "knocking on the door of custody" for some time and that door was now open.

Passing sentence he said he had taken into account that Bott was vulnerable and easily led by others and was stealing to fund his drug addiction. He said the burglaries were serious offences and had involved a degree of planning.

Bott pleaded guilty to fraud, two offences of burglary and handling stolen property on various dates between July and September last year.

Mr Simon Rippon, prosecuting, said that the bank card incident happened in July and Bott had obtained cash and made several other transactions totalling £490 and told police it was 'like winning the lottery' when he found the elderly woman's purse in an alleyway in Market Drayton.

Bott is believed to have had an accomplice in the burglary incidents – who has not been identified – when garages at detached houses in Mount Lane and Orchard Road in the Market Drayton area were targeted.

At the property in Mount Lane the intruders had to scale a 7ft high wall before getting into the garage and stealing a Sat Nav from a Ford Kia, causing £2,000 damage.

Bott's blood was found at the scene and an attempt had been made to break into the house. Bott had denied a charge of attempted burglary and it was ordered to lie on the file.

A footprint and DNA linked Bott to another burglary and when tools were taken and a car window smashed. A Sony CD player was later recovered from Bott's address.

Mr Rippon said that when Bott was arrested on September 8 officers also found a camera and a silver pill box which had been stolen in a burglary the previous day.

Mrs Debra White, for Bott, said her client suffered from Asperger's Syndrome and had been taking drugs and mixing with other addicts.

She said Bott, who had spent four months in custody on remand, had been used by others and was vulnerable and needed help and guidance.