Wolverhampton pub painter who stole charity collection tins avoids immediate jail term
A man who swiped charity collection boxes from a pub and attempted to steal a purse from his doctor has been handed a suspended sentence.
Steven Wardle was working as a painter and decorator at the Otter and Vixen in Bushbury, Wolverhampton on November 19 last year when he stole two charity cash boxes, the city's magistrates' court heard.
Mr Mark Cooper, prosecuting, said the theft came to light when customers at the pub started asking where the boxes were, and CCTV footage showed the 38-year-old taking them.
One was for the Midlands Air Ambulance, and the other for a local family whose child has difficulties. It is unknown how much money was in the boxes.
Wardle, of Lower Prestwood Road, Wednesfield, pleaded not guilty to the thefts in January of this year, and was convicted after a trial on September 7.
Just weeks after entering his plea Wardle attempted to steal a purse, the court heard.
Mr Cooper said Wardle had been at Keats Grove Surgery, in Wolverhampton, on February 23 when his doctor left the room. She returned to find Wardle standing over the drawer where her purse was kept, as he slipped it into the waistband of his trousers.
As Wardle ran from the surgery he pushed aside a male doctor who tried to stop him leaving. Wardle pleaded not guilty to theft and assault by beating, and was convicted after trial on June 17.
In April of this year he was arrested for vagrancy or being found in an enclosed premises for an unlawful purpose, after a worker at Tesco Express in Cannock Road found him hiding by the outside bins. He claimed he was searching for sunglasses that had been thrown over the fence. In September, Wardle was once again convicted after a trial, having pleaded not guilty.
During Wardle's sentencing for the offences, Mr David Dorrance, mitigating, said his client has had a problem with Class A drugs for 'some considerable period of time', which 'probably has contributed to a number of the offences'.
Mr Dorrance said Wardle is now working as a shop-fitter and has remained 'free of illicit substances' for the past six months.
He said: "I think, really, he does present a totally different picture today than when he first appeared before the court in November last year."
Wardle was sentenced by the Black Country Adult Panel of Stephen Russell, Stephen Andrews and Imre Tolgyesi.
They sentenced him to a total of 12 weeks' prison suspended for 12 months, a 12 month rehabilitation activity requirement, six months' drug rehabilitation requirement, 150 hours of unpaid work, and £1150 in costs and compensation.
