Cocaine addict with £300-a-day habit jailed for stealing from his family

Tyler Dominic Hopes stole a bank card from his brother to withdraw cash and buy items, and then also stole an £800 laptop from his mother which he sold for just £50, Leeds Crown Court was told.

The 25-year-old was also hit with 13 additional offences of theft from supermarkets in South Elmsall.

Joseph Bell, prosecuting the case at Leeds Crown Court, said that Hopes had stayed at his brother's house overnight in August last year, but at some point swapped his own debit card with his brother's after finding his brother's wallet on the window ledge.

Hopes used the card for several transactions and withdrawals over three days totaling more than £737.

Weeks later Hopes visited his mother's address while she was away and stole the laptop after entering the house and telling his sister that he was there to do some washing.

He then went onto commit multiple thefts from Tesco and Morrisons, stealing either bottles of spirits or scented candles on each occasion.

On one occasion he was arrested after turning aggressive, but managed to escape from a police car by climbing into the front and out of the driver's side door. He was later found at his address.

Hopes, who had been living at Southmoor Road in Hemsworth, but says he is now of no fixed address, admitted a charge of fraud, theft, 13 offences of thefts from shops and obstructing a police officer.

Appearing at Leeds Crown Court via video link from HMP Leeds, Hopes has nine previous convictions for 18 offences, most of which are for theft from 2016 onward.

He has been jailed twice already in the last year for his offending.

Mitigating, Satpal Roth-Sharma said that following a series of deaths, including friends and family, Hopes had turned to drugs and found himself with a huge cocaine habit, consuming £300 worth of the drug every day.

She added: "In his first year he was able to fund his habit using his savings but when they ran out he turned to stealing.

"He feels remorse for what he has put his family through."

She said that since being held on remand, he was feeling better and has already secured himself a landscaping job for next summer.

She added: "He believes he can get his life back on track when he is released."

Judge Mushtaq Kkokhar jailed him for 16 months, adding: "The root cause of your offending is clearly your addiction to drugs.

"Somebody with a habit of £300 a day can't possibly sustain that habit without resorting to committing offences.

"Unless you address this problem, you are going to be back in prison time and again."