Coke bros used a stolen credit card
Court Reporter
TWO brothers who began taking crack cocaine to “ease lockdown boredom” were caught on a spending spree with a stolen bank card.
Craig Woods claimed to have found the debit card, which had been stolen from a car, in Blyth Market Place before he and his sibling Dylan decided to use it to buy goods from four shops in the Northumberland town.
The pair managed to spend £110 during their early-morning shopping trip before the police were called and they were subsequently identified by CCTV and arrested.
Steve Chambers, representing both men, told a court they started taking crack cocaine because of lockdown boredom and committed the offences to fund the habit.
Craig, 31, of no fixed abode, and Dylan, 23, of Gladstone Street, Blyth, both pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud when they appeared in the dock separately on Wednesday.
Stephen Davies, prosecuting at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, said the brothers used the stolen card four times between 5.40am and 9am on June 12 this year. He added: “They were later identified from CCTV at various stores in Blyth.”
Magistrates heard the pair used the debit card at Broadway News, McKenzie News, Waterloo News and Jim’s News, all in Blyth.
Dylan, who has previous convictions, was on post-sentence supervision after being released from a 16-week prison sentence at the time of the offences, while Craig also had a substantial criminal record.
Mr Chambers, speaking for Dylan, said: “He was hoping to join the Army and was going through that process. That halted with lockdown.
“He was bored being locked in the house and, as a consequence, turned to using drugs. Drugs cost money and that is why these offences occurred.”
Speaking for Craig, Mr Chambers said he had recovered from a heroin addiction but had began taking crack cocaine with his brother.
He added: “He replaced that addiction with occasionally using crack cocaine. That is the motivation behind this offending.”
The court heard Craig split his time between living with his brother and in a tent.
Magistrates gave Dylan a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and Craig a 12-month community order. Both men were ordered to pay £55 compensation to Barclays Bank.