A SHOPLIFTER WHO fed his drug addiction by going on a shop-lifting expedition in Moray managed to escape a jail sentence when he appeared in court on Thursday.

Steven Noble, whose address was given as Glenesk Road in Lhanbryde, admitted the theft of candles from the Allaburn farm shop on Edgar Road in Elgin in April.

The 29-year-old also admitted taking bottles of whisky from the Co-op store on Buckie’s East Street later in the same month.

Sheriff Jack Brown said that a report on Noble made “unhappy reading” – but felt that he could give him an opportunity to “clean up his act” over the next three months.

After hearing that all the items stolen had been sold on to pay for drugs, Sheriff Brown told Noble that if he did not demonstrate he had changed his ways by late October, or if he reoffended during that time, there was every likelihood that he would face a jail sentence when he next appeared in court.