A THIEF stole bottles of whiskey from a Hereford Tesco supermarket after spiralling into depression, a court has heard.

Chad Smith admitted two counts of attempted theft and one of theft when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

The 39-year-old had stolen four bottles of Jack Daniels on March 26, walking out of Tesco in Hereford with the bottles hidden under his jacket, prosecutor Eleanor Peart said.

He attempted to steal two bottles of wine from M&S in Hereford on March 30, but was stopped by staff, and attempted to steal two bottles of Jack Daniels from Tesco on April 2, again concealing them under his jacket.

In interview with police Smith, who has 94 previous convictions for theft, admitted the person on CCTV was him and said he had planned to sell the bottles.

He said he had most likely already sold the four bottles he had successfully stolen but that he did not remember who to or how much they had paid.

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Philip Cornell, for Smith, said he had only had one conviction, for being drunk and disorderly, since 2016.

"He was trying to sort himself out and went to Portsmouth, where he was working doing tarmacking and driveways.

"He was doing very well and did that for three and a half years, but then he moved to Folkestone and things went haywire because the other person involved was not being reasonable," Mr Cornell said.

"He and his partner came back to Hereford."

The court heard that events in Smith's life had seen him spiral into "total depression".

"That is where it all started again," Mr Cornell said.

"He grew up in care and he has a personality disorder, and he is trying his best, but he goes into M&S and picks up two of the best bottles of wine, and walks into Tesco and picks up bottles of Jack Daniels and it's mad. It's like a parallel universe.

"I don't want to say it is a cry for help, but it is almost that. He does not care anymore, his life is gone.

"Looking forwards, he will not be staying in Hereford. He and his partner will be going to live in housing in Birmingham and they are hoping that will be the beginning of the rest of their lives."

Smith, who is of no fixed address, was handed a 15-month conditional discharge and must pay compensation of £129 to Tesco and a £22 victim surcharge.