A thief escaped jail yesterday because he had beaten his heroin addiction.
Shoplifter John Thompson, 21, was arrested again just seven days after leaving prison, said prosecutor Sally Ann Knowles.
But his solicitor Peter Wishlade convinced Teesside magistrates that Thompson had quit drugs, which led him into crime at the age of 17.
He said that Thompson stole bacon worth £12.53 from the Co-op store in Stockton to raise cash after his release.
Thompson, of Wellington Street, Middlesbrough, was fined £90 after he pleaded guilty to the November 10 theft and to failing to surrender to bail. The magistrates took no action on his breach of prison licence because of his success in quitting heroin.
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