A BRICKLAYER who stole a £400 Samsung tablet when he popped into Tesco's Clifton Moor store to get his methadone prescription has been given a community punishment.

Christopher Bullivant, 35, also stole a bottle of wine from Tesco's Goodramgate store three weeks later, then skipped bail, York magistrates heard.

Bullivant, of Windsor Drive, Acomb, pleaded guilty to two charges of theft, one of failure to attend court and breaching a conditional discharge.

He was ordered to pay £405 compensation to Tesco's and given a 12-month community order with 15 days' rehabilitative activities and 100 hours' unpaid work.

For him, Keith Whitehouse said he had been a heroin addict, but was now a drinker. He had an offer of a bricklaying job and his girlfriend was pregnant.

Kathryn Reeve, prosecuting, said Bullivant got away with the tablet but was recognised when he returned to the store three days later and detained.