A career thief turned back to crime in order to fund his gambling addiction, a court heard.

Notorious Kevin Nanton, 55, who has more than 200 offences on his record and 135 alone for dishonesty, stole wallets from the elderly in Oxford and Thame.

He also used stolen bank cards to make purchases in Sainsbury’s, Asda and WHSmith in a spree that lasted almost eight weeks from the start of April to the end of May - around the same time as the Grand National horseracing festival.

On Thursday, Nanton’s barrister echoed submissions made in the past, telling Oxford Crown Court that his client stole in order to fund a long-standing gambling addiction.

But Milad Shojaei said the defendant’s ‘circumstances have changed since then’. “For the first time ever, he’s fully acknowledged his gambling problem,” he said.

READ MORE: Oxfordshire thieves and rogues who targeted pensioners

Nanton was hopeful of getting his CSCS card allowing him to work on construction sites, meaning he would not have to steal in order to fund his betting.

Mr Shojaei told the judge that the career thief had asked to be banned from the High Street bookmakers and had been referred to Gamblers Anonymous.

It was claimed that Nanton, whose criminal career has been to steal from elderly victims, had not known the age of one of the women from whom he stole.

And the court heard that the cards used in various shops were not stolen by Nanton himself, but instead given to him to buy gift cards which he exchanged for cash with the person who gave him the bank cards.

Sentencing, Recorder Samantha Presland spared him an immediate prison sentence, telling the defendant: “This will be your last chance to avoid prison being the rest of your life.”

She imposed two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years, with Nanton required to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and a night-time curfew.  

Any breaches would be dealt with by her, she warned, adding in a parting shot that she mainly sat at Croydon Crown Court rather than Oxford.

Oxford Mail: Kevin Nanton, who has been spared prison for his latest purse dipping escapades Picture: Oxford

Earlier, she compared Nanton’s criminality to fund his gambling addiction to a heroin addict burgling to pay for their drugs. “His is a mean crime; he’s not addled, so he deliberately targets vulnerable people.”

Nanton, of Saunders Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to theft and fraud by false representation.

He had a long list of previous convictions going back two decades. He was jailed for 40 months in 2020 then got more jail time later in the year, when Oxford judge Maria Lamb told him and a co-defendant: "If you are not professional pickpockets, certainly you are persistent.”

Oxford Mail: Click here to sign up to the Crime and Court newsletter Click here to sign up to the Crime and Court newsletter (Image: Newsquest)