Store raid ex-soldier given second chance

A former soldier who raided a Black Country supermarket to help block out the trauma of serving in Iraq and Afghanistan was given a second chance by a judge.

Recorder Nigel Baker, QC, told Carl Bates: "You put yourself in great peril of going to prison but I believe you could put your life back on track."

The ex-Army engineer, aged 23, was caught loading £650 worth of food into a car at Sangha Supermarket, Church Street, Bilston.

He was in breach of a suspended 51-week jail sentence for trying to defraud a couple that his girlfriend was caring of £40,000.

Bates, aged 23, of Willis Pearson Avenue, Bilston, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan before being discharged in 2007, was told to do a further 240 hours unpaid work, pay £400 compensation and undergo a further three months' electronic tagging for the raid.

Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday heard he was being helped by Combat Stress, a charity which cares for veterans' mental health.

Sati Aujla, prosecuting, said Bates got the help of a teenage boy before forcing the shop front door on July 3, causing £400 of damage.

He loaded the items into a car but was caught by police after an alarm went off.

Bates, who admitted burglary, told police he had Gulf War Syndrome a condition where service personnel have difficulty returning to civilian life.

The suspended sentence for false representation was given at York Crown Court after he and his girlfriend set up an account in the names of an elderly couple they were caring for.

They twice transferred cheques for £20,000 but when they tried to move all £40,000 into their account, the bank alerted the police.

The judge said: "All is not hopeless in your case.

"This is a chance for you you either take it or throw it back in the court's face, it's up to you."