A SHOPLIFTER who twice begged to be sent to prison has walked free from court.

Adam Gardner, 39, of Derby Court, first appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court on May 24.

He pleaded guilty to stealing £68 worth of Dior fragrance from Debenhams in the town centre on May 5 and also to stealing £90 of champagne from Sainsbury on May 19.

He took the unusual step of asking magistrates to send him to prison for those offences as it was, in his view, the only place he could successfully free himself from drug addiction.

Despite this, Gardner was bailed to return to court the following day so that the probation service could assess his suitability for a drug treatment programme.

He did not show up and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

When he was arrested, a further charge of shoplifting was added to his file.

Appearing before magistrates on Friday, he pleaded guilty to failing to surrender to court and to stealing a set of wireless speakers worth £25 from Wilkinsons on Fleet Street on May 20.

The court heard that in addition to these three recent thefts, Gardner had a history of similar previous offences.

Ben Worthington, defending, said: “Somewhat unusually, Mr Gardner has asked that he be sent to prison.

“He wants to receive a lengthy custodial sentence – he last came out on March 4 having spent six months in prison, he was clean of drugs at that point.

“Mr Gardner became a father last year and he hoped that his former partner would allow him legal access.

“Unfortunately she refused and he fell back into his old ways.

“He is on benefits and those benefits will not support a class A drug habit by themselves, that is why he committed these offences.

“He wants to go to prison because he knows that is the one way he can get clear of drugs.”

The magistrates again asked the probation service for a comment on Gardner’s suitability for a drug treatment programme in the community.

They determined that he was not suitable due to his poor previous engagement with probation officers since his last release and his previous lack of engagement with drug support staff in prison.

In fact the court heard his engagement had been so poor that if he was likely to be facing a recall to prison for failing to comply with his previous licence.

Despite this, the magistrates decided not to impose a custodial sentence.

Val Street, chairman of the bench, said: “We’re going to impose a three-month community order.

“Part of that will be a curfew from 7pm to 7am for three weeks.

“We recommend you must cooperate fully with the probation service. We will not seek costs because of your means.”