A MAN went on a 10-day shoplifting spree during which he stole more than £500 worth of goods.

Blackburn magistrates heard Dean Robert Smethurst committed the offences at a time of "intense personal crisis" which he had now come through.

Smethurst, 46, of Horsfall Close, Accrington, pleaded guilty to 10 charges of shoplifting.

He was made subject to a community order for 12 months with a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement and 20 days' rehabilitation activity requirement, fined £20 and ordered to pay £531 compensation.

Peter King, defending, said until 2018 Smethurst had gone many, many years without getting into any kind of trouble

He had been living on the Fylde Coast where he had a pedlar's licence but when he moved back to his native Accrington he was unable to get a similar permit.

"He got into financial difficulties, fell in with the wrong crowd and started to use heroin," said Mr King.

"The offences on their own are low-key but the accumulation takes them to a much higher level."