A HOMELESS thief from Hereford has been ordered to attend drug rehabilitation after admitting shoplifting and attacking police.

Jamie Ellis, a homeless man who is currently residing in accommodation at Symonds Street, appeared before Hereford Magistrates’ Court on October 22.

The 33-year-old admitted three counts of theft from a shop and two counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker.

Magistrates ordered Ellis to complete 18 months of drug rehabilitation. This includes six months of providing samples to Turning Point as part of the treatment, and 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

He was fined a total of £100 and ordered to pay compensation to each of the police officers he assaulted, totalling £100.

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He had stolen Barefoot rose wine from the Co-Op and must pay them back £13 for this, as well as compensation of £38.40 to another shop in Hereford from which he stole a crate of beer.

This year, Ellis has been convicted of various other offences including theft and assault, and was last given a community order in January. 

He has been said to have a “previous record of stealing” and this year was also given a suspended sentence after a larger shoplifting spree in which he targeted eight shops. The stolen items from this haul had come to a total of well over £800.