First ever case of a British steroid user stealing to pay for his gear ?

A man who stole £9,430 of jewellery from his mother to pay for bodybuilding drugs has avoided being sent to jail.

Jamie Bentley took his mother’s treasured possessions and sold them in pawnshops in Witham and Colchester, a court heard.

Bentley, 24, admitted stealing the jewellery from his mother’s Halstead home between February and May last year.

He originally claimed the value of the items taken from Jill Bentley were less than the prosecution’s total, and a hearing had been arranged to allow Judge Charles Gratwicke to rule on this matter alone.

Bentley accepted the amount involved was £9,430 when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court. Judge Gratwicke told him: “This was a despicable and selfish course of conduct.

“You plundered the property of your mother, who had done you no harm.

“She brought you into this world, cared for you, brought you up and, no doubt, loved you. She probably still does.

“Your response was to abuse that trust and affection in order to meet your selfish desires.”

Bentley, of Beatty Gardens, Braintree, was given a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and told to pay his mother £9,430 compensation.

He was also given a 200-hour unpaid work order.

The judge said he was not sending Bentley to jail since he was due to start work as a dustman and could use his earnings to repay his mother.

Bentley’s lawyer, Lynne Shirley, told the court he was sorry for what he had done.

She said her client had been training at a gym and got involved in taking steroids and a growth hormone.

She said the items were expensive, so he started stealing from his mother to pay for them.

Miss Shirley added: “He made a stupid decision to take the jewellery and everything spiralled out of control.

“He wants to make good what he has done.”

No comments:

Post a Comment