Wolves shirt thief kicked club shop worker

Andrew Hughes was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court yesterday, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of two shirts worth £84 and the assault of Lynn Nicklin on Wednesday.

The court heard the 30-year-old, of Smestow Street, Springfields, had a record of thefts prompted by a history of drug use, which has caused him to develop such bad deep vein thrombosis he sometimes cannot leave the house from pain. Mrs Sukhi Rai, prosecuting, said Hughes tried to leave the store with two shirts stashed under his jumper. She added: "He was detained by security and the assistant manager. In the process he kicked the assistant manager in the shin causing pain and discomfort." She however said there was no lasting injury.

Mrs Rai added: "He tested positive for cocaine and opiates at the police station. He has numerous similar matters on his record. The shirts were recovered." Mr Sundip Murria, defending, disputed the value of the Wolves shirts, as he said they were older team kits. He added the crime was committed while Hughes was subject to a 12-month community order for other thefts, which had included a drug rehabilitation requirement.

He said: "Clearly Hughes still has a drug problem. On many occasions he is unable to leave his house because of pain from DVT, which he knows is self-inflicted. Those particular tops were in an old style, though we accept they have some value."

Appointments for drug assessments led to a 50 per cent improvement during the community order, Mr Murria stressed, as he asked District Judge Michael Wheeler to keep any custodial sentence to a minimum.

Mr Wheeler decided to revoke the old community order, imposed last November, and re-sentence Hughes for Wednesday's theft and assault, and the crimes which prompted the community order – other thefts and failing to attend a drug assessment. Passing sentence, he said: "You assaulted a person doing her public duty in her job. Custody is inevitable."