Blackpool teenager stole to buy food

Connor Griffin, 19, of Moor Park Avenue, Bispham, pleaded guilty to theft and possession of cannabis.

Adrian Hollamby, prosecuting, said Griffin was caught stealing two DVD box sets valued at £99 from Blackpool’s HMV store on March 7. Two small snap bags of cannabis were found in his coat pocket.

Gary McAnulty, defending, said his client was homeless and was desperate because he had not eaten for two days, at the time.

Griffin had now turned his life around, getting a job at a fishmonger’s and moving in with his girlfriend.

Griffin was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £15 victims’ surcharge by Blackpool magistrates, who ordered the destruction of the drugs.