A LOWER Gornal sneak thief targeted a care worker weeks after getting a court order for a previous offence.

Ashley Rollinson took a mobile phone valued at £150 from the worker at the home where he was living in Sledmere Road and it had not been recovered.

Debbie Gould, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court the 18-year-old climbed through a window to gain access to an office and he took the phone just 25 days after being given a community order by magistrates.

Rollinson, of Pleasant View, admitted theft and was given three months detention. Judge Martin Walsh ruled the sentence should run concurrently to an 18 month custodial sentence he is currently serving for breaching court orders.

The judge said: "This was a mean, unpleasant sneak theft from this care worker," but he ruled he would not impose a sentence that would have meant him having to spend further time behind bars.

Andrew Baker, for Rollinson, said his client had a long list of previous convictions and was in custody for the first time having led a "dreadful life."