Whitburn addict stole to feed habit

Oct 9 2008 by Our Correspondent, West Lothian Courier

A DRUG addict who stole from two supermarkets to feed his habit has been jailed.

William Hunter stole over £60 worth of coffee from the Lidl store on Longridge Road, Whitburn on May 10 before stealing a quantity of meat from Somerfield in Whitburn on July 13.

Hunter, whose address was given as 23 Norwood Avenue, Whitburn, admitted both offences when he appeared at Linlithgow Sheriff Court last week.

The 24-year-old was also sentenced for failing to complete a drug treatment and testing order he had been placed on for an earlier assault offence.

Hunter’s solicitor, Andy Aitken, told the court his client had for a time been doing well on the order.

Mr Aitken added: “He fully accepts that there has been significant investment in him of time, effort and money.

“For long periods during the order he had been doing particularly well.

“He had been holding down a job and giving negative opiate samples. It showed that in the right circumstances he can abstain from heroin and live a normal fruitful life.

“Since that order came to an end there have been a number of difficulties in his life and he has returned to the old coping mechanism of taking heroin.

“This lead to the almost inevitable offence of shoplifting to feed his habit in May this year.

“He is now on the methadone programme and stabilised on that. He has not committed any offences since then.

“He is not a lost cause. He has a poor record but there is only four previous convictions for dishonesty. If he is sent to prison then in my submission that is a step back for him after all the progress he has made in recent months.”

But Sheriff Donald Muirhead said there had to come a time when the court stopped handing Hunter second chances.

Sentencing him to 130 days imprisonment Sheriff Muirhead said: “There does seem to be an indication that you are now trying again to give up your habit but that is only fairly recently.

“You were on deferred sentence and you committed another two shoplifting offences.

“The state has tried very hard to assist you in giving you help to give it up and there has to be a point when it stops.

“The DTTO had to be revoked as you were not able to complete it. You went back on to heroin and committed a further two offences so in these circumstances I do not feel that anything but a custodial sentence is appropriate.

“I just hope you are able to continue making progress when you are released.”