Norfolk gambling addict stole from shops

Sam EmanuelA gambling addict who stole from shops in the city and traded the goods in for money has appeared in court.Sam Emanuel

A gambling addict who stole from shops in the city and traded the goods in for money has appeared in court.

Grant Sleight, 20, of Brewery Road, Trunch, North Walsham, pleaded guilty to four charges of theft at Norwich Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The court heard how Sleight had stolen �259.93 worth of computer-related goods from Maplin, �48 worth of DVDs and books from Tesco and �44.99 worth of goods from Langleys toy shop.

He had initially stolen �199.95 worth of memory cards from Maplin and taken some of them to Cash Converters where he exchanged them for �27.50.

But when he returned with the rest of the memory cards and the other items he had stolen, staff became suspicious and called the police, who arrested him.

Lisa Britton, prosecuting, said Sleight has four previous convictions of theft and four of fraud.

But in mitigation, Ryan Creek said: 'He gave the police his full co-operation and the thefts were particularly unsophisticated - he just walked out without paying.

'He has had a gambling problem for the last three years, and it started with relatively low amounts, but then became really out of control. He has since made a concerted effort to gamble no more.'

Sleight was ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of �85.