A thief stole items worth over £100 from Asda to make enough money to buy heroin and numb the pain of a "nasty infection" which had caused his toes to "curl in". John Anthony Haden appeared before Wrexham Magistrates Court where the 31-year-old admitted he had stolen over £110 worth of electrical items and toiletries, reports North Wales Live.
The court heard how police were already in the city centre on Monday, January 9 when alarms went off at the supermarket. After a chase on foot Haden refused to be interviewed. All stolen items were recovered.
The prosecutor said Haden is a prolific shoplifter with almost 110 previous offences that are linked to thefts and acknowleged that this put him in breach of s suspended sentence for a similar crime that was imposed last month by the same district judge..
Defending, Emma Simoes, said that while her client had been given "chance after chance" she hoped a major life change in his accomodation - Haden had recently been granted secure accomodation that he had lacked for some time - would help to turn his life around.
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She said: "He's feeling very deflated today and continues to be in considerable pain. I won't ask him to show you but he's suffering with a nasty infection in his lower leg and foot." The court heard how Haden wanted to buy heroin to numb the pain but an issue with his benefits being processed meant he had no money to do so.
"It's not an excuse in any which way, but that is the reality of the situation and how desperate he was," said Ms Simoes. "His toes are curled in, I've never seen anything quite like it." As a result she appealed to the judge to suspend his sentence again.
She said that, if he were to go to prison now, he'd lose his new home and "effectively be put back to square one". District judge Gwyn Jones said that, despite whatever pain he was going through, Haden was still able to go into Asda and steal items as well as attempt to run from the police. The judge imposed a 16-week prison spell which included the activation of Haden's suspended sentence.
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