A MAN on his way to work early in the morning reported two men acting suspiciously.

Blackburn magistrates heard the witness had been the victim of a theft from his car a few days earlier and he was certain the two men were responsible for that.

When he checked CCTV footage from the theft from his car he recognised Terry Gaskin as being involved in both incidents.

Gaskin, 38, of Canterbury Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to theft of a dashcam, sat nav, USB charger and two bank cards belonging to Josh Hughes and three charges of fraudulent use of a bank car, a separate incident of theft of a bank card from a parked vehicle and handling a stolen bank card on another occasion.

He was made subject to a community order for 18 months with a six months drug treatment requirement, 80 hours unpaid work and 15 days rehabilitation activity requirement. He was ordered to pay £85 costs and £95 victim surcharge.

Diane Jackson, prosecuting, said Mr Hughes was on his way to work at 6.10am when he saw two men behaving suspiciously.

He informed the police and followed them into the town centre. He reviewed the CCTV footage of the theft from his vehicle a few days earlier and was able to make a positive identification of Gaskin.

"He told the police he was 100 per cent certain that Gaskin had been the man who entered his car while the other man acted as lookout," said Miss Jackson.

The handling offence came about when police received a report of a man on Manxman Road selling stolen property. Gasking claimed he was selling a few things he had found.

The bank card was stolen from a car in the Frankland Road area and police found Gaskin in the area. As they stopped near him he threw something on the floor and the police recovered the card.

Jonathan Taylor, defending, said his client had been battling against drug abuse since he first started using when he was just 11.

"He has begun to see the physical impact of a lifetime of abuse," said Mr Taylor.

"He realises that if he doesn't change he will not be with us for much longer. He appreciates that these offences cause people a great deal of inconvenience."