Hartlepool drug user sentenced at Teesside Crown Court for jewellery theft

Thomas Doherty transferred £150 from the victim’s bank account to himself and made off with a gold ring and bracelet given to her by her late husband.

He attended the 74-year-old woman’s home in Hartlepool town centre on October 25 and asked to borrow some money to get back to Stockton.

The victim had only met him earlier that day when he was in the company of another male who she gave £10 to.

In a statement, she said she felt pressured into letting Doherty, 30, in and was scared of him.

Jonathan Pettengell, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said the victim agreed to transfer £30 using her computer.

She went into the kitchen when he asked her for a glass of water and a sandwich in a rouse.

When she returned, Doherty, of Whitby Street, Hartlepool, was gone, together with the jewellery worth £450 and he had also transferred £150 from her bank.

The victim said she had been left “a shadow of my former self” and was too scared to open her front door.

In mitigation, the court heard Doherty had hit “rock bottom” at the time after the tragic and unexpected loss of his partner and turned to drugs to cope.

He said he was “thoroughly ashamed” although the judge accepted he had made “considerable efforts” to change while in prison on remand.

Recorder Patrick Palmer gave Doherty, who admitted theft, a two-year community order with 200 hours of unpaid work, 12 months of drug rehabilitation and ordered him to pay compensation.