A 'desperate' man stole goods from a city centre store in order to put food on the table and pay his bills, a court heard.

Paul Roberts, of Crossway in Ewloe, appeared at Wrexham Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old admitted that on three dates in November, he stole fragrance gift sets from Boots at Eagles Meadow - the total value of the stolen items coming to more than £700.

Rhian Jackson, prosecuting, told the court that on November 13, he and a female attended the store and took four fragrance sets worth £340.

Roberts 'de-tagged' the products before putting them into a carrier bag.

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They returned on November 16 and took another gift set worth £85 in the same way.

A third visit to the store on November 18 saw the theft of four more fragrance sets, to the value of £329.

When he was interviewed by police, Roberts claimed he was not able to get a job - which caused "huge struggles" for his home life.

He admitted however that this was no excuse for shoplifting.

Emma Simoes, defending, said: "At that time, his benefits were not paid correctly.

"There had been an admin error and he and his partner were living on extremely limited means.

"They'd used up all of their foodbank vouchers and were really struggling so, regrettably, while trying to survive he accepts he committed these offences.

"He had struggled in the past with drug use but he's been clean for 18 months.

The Leader:

"Things are now going in the right direction and at this time in November, it was financial gain for bills and food - not drugs.

"He was desperate."

Deputy District Judge Paul Conlon said while he understood what may have been behind the reason for the offences, there had been an element of planning involved, and it had come immediately after Roberts had completed a suspended sentence order.

He opted to adjourn the sentence to June 20 at Wrexham Magistrates Court in order for a pre-sentence report to be completed.