Mansfield shoplifter spiralled into drug misuse after deaths of son and partner

Simon Atkinson was detained by security guards at Tesco, Chesterfield Road South, after hiding bottles of vodka and whisky, worth £74, in his jacket, on May 4, Mansfield Magistrates’ Court was told.

Lynette Holland, prosecuting, said 49-year-old Atkinson told police: “I did it to feed my habit.”

Magistrates heard Atkinson has 16 previous convictions for 25 offences, 12 of which are for theft, which date back to 1990.

So far this year he was fined for theft, on February 2, received a community order for theft, on February 17, and fined again for theft, on March 28.

Atkinson admitted the latest theft.

Ryan Higginbotham, mitigating, said he deserved full credit for his timely guilty plea and the goods were recovered.

“He is working to resolve a drug issue,” he said. “Most of his record is punctuated with drug misuse.”

He said Atkinson stayed out of trouble for eight years because he had stable accommordation and support.

But he lost that accommodation after his son’s body was discovered near Amazon, in September.

And on April 1, he lost his partner and “a degree of stability” and “turned to drug misuse as a crutch.”

Mr Higginbotham asked magistrates “to treat this as a blip on the road to recovery,” adding: “Recovery is not an event, it's a process. HIs last drug test was clean.”

Atkinson’s current order was extended to 12 months and a drug rehabilitation requirement was added. He was also fined £120 and ordered to pay a £48 surcharge and £85 costs.