A man did not remember stealing hundreds of pounds worth of goods over the course of a few weeks due to his cocaine use, a court heard.

Rupert Kilshaw, of Killins Lane in Shotton, appeared at Mold Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The 27-year-old admitted four counts of theft; two of which took place at Iceland in Shotton, one at Esso Garage in Connah's Quay and one at Tesco Express in Connah's Quay.

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Prosecutor Justin Espie told the court that on June 18, the defendant snatched an unsecured pushbike left outside Tesco Express.

The bike was worth £500 and was not recovered.

Then on June 19, he put items in a rucksack at Iceland and left the store before running away down an alleyway.

Kilshaw returned to the store on July 28 and ran from the shop with items in a basket, then went to Esso two days later and repeated the behaviour there.

Other than the £500 bike, the value of defendant's thefts amounted to £35 from Esso and £194 from Iceland.

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Probation officer Andrew Connah told the court: "He has little memory of the circumstances, due to him mixing illegal drugs with his prescribed medication.

"To be fair to him, it does appear out of character - there were no like offences of this nature until this year.

"He tells me his mental health has deteriorated a great deal over the past three years after the death of his father.

"He has found it difficult coping with the bereavement.

"The issue for him is his illegal drug use - specifically cocaine.

"All offences were committed, he believes, when he was under the influence of cocaine."

Mr Connah said the defendant had been diagnosed with psychotic depression.

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Gary Harvey, defending, asked the court to take into account his client's prompt guilty pleas but said he didn't have anything further to add to Mr Connah's comprehensive report.

Kilshaw received a 12 month community order with 15 days of rehabilitation activity and a nominal £20 fine.

Given the defendant's limited means, he was ordered to pay £500 compensation for the bike theft only - no costs, victim surcharge or compensation to the shop or garage were ordered.