A “VULNERABLE” thief who had been street homeless since the age of 13 was used by another man to steal from a Rhyl store, a court heardon Friday.

Shane Bradley, 30, was ordered to pay £74 compensation and £85 costs after he admitted stealing three toys from B&M.

Magistrates at Llandudno were told he had been asked to leave the Dewi Sant Centre at Rhyl because of the finding of drug paraphernalia and was now street homeless again.

Defence solicitor Andrew Hutchinson said the second man had escaped with the toys. Bradley, on benefit and a methadone script, was vulnerable and “used” by this man, the lawyer added.

Court chairman David Davies told the defendant: "It’s a sad case. We hear you have been on the streets since being a teenager and the fact you aren’t at the centre anymore means you are back on the streets. It doesn’t make your life very easy and doesn’t make our sentencing decision very easy either.

“It’s a pity you don’t engage more with probation.”