A THIEF who stole a pair of shoes and then failed to appear in court has been fined £100.

James Draper, 36, of Overton Gardens, Swindon, pleaded guilty to taking the £24 pair from TK Maxx on November 2.

James Burnham, prosecuting, explained what happened on the day of the incident.

He said: “A security officer looked at the CCTV footage at 3pm and saw the defendant and another man enter the shop. The two split up and looked around, then the other man had something in his hand which he concealed.

“They both walked into the footwear section, the other man removed a tag from the shoes which the defendant put on.

“The defendant walked around the shop in them, paid for underpants and male accessories and walked out of the shop without paying for the shoes.”

Sambreen Arif, defending, said: “He has previous convictions from 2010 and 2011 but nothing since then.

“For about 15 years, he has struggled with drug addiction.

“He has done remarkably well but from time to time he had a dabble, this last period of dabbling has resulted in a downward spiral.

“He said he’s allowed the wrong people to be around him and allowed them to smoke in his house, but he’s trying to keep on the straight and narrow.”

Draper was fined £80 for the theft and ordered to pay £85 in costs plus £30 for victim services.

He was fined another £20 for failing to appear at Swindon Magistrates' Court on November 22 after having been released on bail.

The court heard that Draper had got the date wrong and went to the court the day after he was supposed to be there.