Old drug debts drove a 24-year-old man back to stealing and eventually landed him in prison

Blackburn magistrates heard Simon Vincent had been in court on numerous occasions in 2017 and his latest offence put him in breach of two suspended prison sentences.

Vincent, of Queen Street, Rawtenstall, pleaded guilty to theft of lead from St James' Medical Centre in Rawtenstall. He was jailed for a total of 36 weeks after the magistrates activated both of the suspended sentences.

Alex Mann, prosecuting, said it had not been a good year for Vincent who had appeared before the courts frequently and as well as two suspended prison sentences was in breach of a conditional discharge.

Police came across Vincent at about 7pm and he had some lead which he was trying to break into smaller pieces.

"He said he had found the lead but it had cone from the roof of the medical centre," said Mrs Mann. "Over a period of six weeks they had lead stolen from the roof on two occasions and the cost of repairs has run into thousands of pounds."

Jonathan Taylor, defending, said his client was fully aware he had had a bad year.

"Old drug debts came back to haunt him and he got himself into a financial mess," said Mr Taylor. "He was constantly looking for ways to make some money."