A SERIAL vodka thief stole five bottles of booze from a supermarket over a nine-day period to fund his drug habit, a court heard.

Desmond Samuel Doak, 44, of Broad Close, Barrow, pleaded guilty to five counts of theft after being spotted on CCTV stealing five one litre bottles of Smirnoff vodka between October 16 and October 25.

The defendant, who appeared before Furness Magistrates' Court in Barrow on Tuesday, also pleaded guilty to abstracting an unknown amount of electricity over six weeks after he researched online how to bypass the meter.

Mr John Appleby, prosecuting, told the court how police came to search his home address at 11.30am on October 17 and arrested Doak after noticing that his electricity box had been interfered with.

For the five counts of theft, Mr Appleby said Doak was spotted on CCTV concealing vodka under his jacket in Asda in Barrow before attempting to leave the store.

He was arrested by police on the fifth occasion and taken to Barrow police station where he admitted that he intended to sell the bottles on to buy drugs.

Mr Andrew Gibson, defending, said that his client, who suffers from mental health problems and has a personality disorder, was taking drugs at the time of the thefts but wanted the alcohol to drink because his carer wouldn't allow him to have any.

He said: "He has not done very well to go back to the same shop stealing the same thing and as soon as he walked in they recognised him but were not able to stop him until the fifth occasion. It is a very amateurish attempt at shoplifting.

"He said he did it to fund the drug habit but that is not totally true. He was taking drugs at the time but has cut them out of his life now. The main reason is that his carer wouldn't provide him with alcohol and he wanted some to drink."

Mr Gibson also said that his client tried to bypass the electricity meter due to an argument with his carer who controls his finances.

He added: "He receives Employment Support Allowance and Disability Living Allowance but he tells me that he always argues with his carer about money and that is why he messed with the meter - because he argued with his carer about using too much electricity."

Presiding magistrate, Mr Les Johnson, told Doak not to repeat the offence as the bench slapped him with a fine of £320.

He was also ordered to pay £68 in compensation towards Asda, a victim surcharge of £30 and prosecution costs of £85.

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