A MAN stole from Poundland so he could make himself some coffee and fix his bike.

Terry Dowling of London Road, Worcester, admitted stealing coffee, sugar and spanners worth £4 from Poundland in Worcester when he appeared before city magistrates on Thursday.

The 42-year-old admitted the thefts on September 18.

David Devine, prosecuting, said: “While in the police station he tested positive for cocaine and opiates. His record is of quite some length. This is an offence committed while on bail awaiting trial at this court.”

Dowling is part of the Integrated Offender Management (IOM) which is a multi-agency approach run by the police to curb offending but Mr Devine said Dowling's compliance with the scheme 'was not great'.

Dowling was made subject to a community order earlier in the year and is subject in total to three community orders (one for six months and two for 12).

Gary Harper, defending, said: “He’s up against it at the moment.”

He told the court Dowling had no choice about whether he was part of the IOM scheme but did have a choice about the extent to which he engaged with it on a voluntary basis.

He explained that Dowling has deep vein thrombosis and used his bike to get around, stealing the spanners in the hope that he could repair his bike.

Mr Harper added: “He went to Poundland. If you’re going to steal stuff it’s probably not the best place to go. The goods are of low value – they cost £1. He stole some coffee. He didn’t have the money to pay for it. He stole two spanners, £1 each, to fix his bike. Admissions were made readily in interview with the police.”

As a punishment magistrates decided to confine Dowling to the court until 5pm as a punishment.