Wayne Rose Picture Ref: 77205-08NUISANCE beggar Wayne Rose, dubbed the Crying Boy, has moved from pestering the public to stealing and according to his solicitor it is a step in the right direction.

Rose, 26, of Silverton Road, Park North, pleaded guilty to shoplifting at Swindon Magistrates Court yesterday.

And Philip Hall, defending, claimed his latest brush with the law was a sign that he is maturing.

Mr Hall said: "This offence represents a step in the right direction for him."

Lynne Henderson, prosecuting, told the court that on Wednesday, April 27, Rose had been seen by a member of staff taking a £4.99 painting set from The Works in the town centre.

He ran out of the shop straight into passing police officers who caught him after a chase through BHS.

Heroin addict Rose is a father-of-four who was handed an Asbo earlier this month banning him from begging after more than 100 people called an Adver-backed hotline.

Rose, who got the nickname Crying Boy after persistently using a sob story to cheat money out of people, told police he had taken the paints set for his five-year-old daughter.

Mr Hall said: "Clearly this man is no stranger to the courts.

"He is probably no stranger to the people of Swindon.

"He was notorious for trying on hard luck stories on passers-by."

But Mr Hall was adamant the theft was not carried out to fund Rose's drugs habit.

"He is on a drug treatment and testing order," he said.

"He has been tested twice for drugs and he has remained clean.

"You would have to be something of a moron to steal that to fund heroin.

"I cannot imagine any drug dealer having any truck with it.

"What he told the police was absolutely true."

And Mr Hall claimed taking the painting set for his daughter, who he no longer lives with, showed he had stopped begging.

"Has he been begging? No," he said.

"That's why I say it's a step in the right direction.

"He knows he has been stupid but nowhere near as he has been in the past.

"It's a pity that he of all people has not proved immune to the sob story of his daughter."

Handing him a 12-month conditional discharge, chairwoman of the bench Malathy Sitaram, said: "Here you are yet again.

"We have run out of sentences for you. Everything has been tried.

"Apparently this particular offence and the reason you have given points to the pact that you may be improving.

"We are going to give you the benefit of the doubt and go along with that."

Unemployed Rose was also ordered to pay £40 costs at a rate of £10 a fortnight.

Gareth Bethell