Man faces jail again for theft and fraud

Gascoigne, 24, of River Parade, Chippenham, appeared before North West Wiltshire Magistrates on Monday. and pleaded guilty to the theft which took place on April 15

He also pleaded guilty to attempting to buy £600 of goods from Dixons in Chippenham High Street on March 25 using two fraudulent credit cards.

He will reappear before magistrates for sentencing on May 20.

Mr Murphy said security guard Nigel Wright was outside Porter Black's bar at about 9.15pm on April 15 and spotted Gascoigne and another man walking into Borough Parade.

He said Mr Wright knew the men and watched them walk past Littlewoods and stand outside Jeanius for about 40 seconds.

"The taller of the two started to kick and shoulder the left hand door of Jeanius," said Mr Murphy.

"Mr Wright said they were in the shop for some four minutes or so and when they left they had a large quantity of clothes in their arms."

He said Gascoigne, the shorter one, dropped some clothes, picked the garments up, and was partially held back by Mr Wright, before breaking free and running off towards the Porter Black's car park.

Mr Murphy said Gascoigne had previously been arrested after attempting the buy goods in Dixons on March 25.

"He admitted attempting to obtain goods by deception but would not say how the items came into his possession," said Mr Murphy.

Gascoigne has 13 previous convictions for similar offences.

Em Wrench, defending, said Gascoigne first offended in 1994, but had tried to stay out of trouble since being released from prison 22 months ago.

She said: "He has reached the stage where he very much wants to put offending behind him.

"He appreciates that without some formal assistance from the probation service he will not be able to restrain himself from re-offending."

She said Gascoigne was estranged from his family, and had tried, unsuccessfully, to find work.