Staffordshire heroin addict stole items worth £10k from parents' home
A chronic heroin addict who plundered his parents' home to pay off drug dealers was jailed for 16 months.
Ashley Lawton had been ejected and banned from the house after repeated thefts of property.
His parents had even put a lock on their bedroom door to prevent his thieving. But on August 30 he burgled the property using a key he had kept, kicked open the bedroom door and stole cash and jewellery totalling around £10,000.
Mr Robert Edwards, prosecuting at Stafford Crown Court, said Lawton had also kept a bank card that he used 17 times to steal a total of £1,638.
When the offences were reported to the police, Lawton's mother also revealed a string of thefts by her son, an estimated total of more than £7,000.
"His mother and stepfather are at their wits end as a result of his heroin addiction," said Mr Edwards.
Lawton, aged 27, formerly of Chase Road, Burntwood, admitted charges of burglary, theft and making false representations.
Mr Stephen Bailey, defending, said: "He is beginning to realise the harm in his behaviour, not only to himself, but to others. The motive for the burglary was threats from his dealers."
