Jobless Christopher Lovegrove told a court he was tackling heroin addiction when he was caught shoplifting.

Shelley Cranshaw, prosecuting, said staff at Peacocks store in Broadway, Didcot, twice saw Lovegrove walking out with Puffa jackets without paying for them.

"Each time, there was video evidence on the CCTV cameras," she said.

At Didcot Court, Lovegrove, 26, of Gaveston Road, Harwell, was conditionally discharged for 12 months when he admitted the theft of the jackets, worth £24.50 each.

He was ordered to pay £49 compensation and £30 costs.

A probation officer told the court the offences were committed only two weeks after Lovegrove was put on probation for a previous offence, and he was now receiving medication for the heroin addiction.