A crack addict stole almost £200 of Olay face cream so he could feed his habit, a court has heard.

Jeffery Duah, 27, went into the Boots store in Dartford High Street and put five tubs of the cream into a basket.

He then walked around the store for a bit before kneeling down to wrap the tubs in tin foil and put them in a carrier bag.

However, his ploy of wrapping the items in foil to prevent alarms going off as he left the shop didn't work and security guards chased him as he left. He was apprehended and the cream tubs were returned to the store.

During interview with police, Duah, of Miles Drive, London, made no comment but he was charged with stealing the Olay face cream, valued at £190.

He appeared before magistrates in Medway yesterday where he pleaded guilty to carrying out the offence in July this year.

Terry Knox, prosecuting, said: "He has two previous convictions for shoplifting, one in 2020 and one almost a year later.

"He was given a conditional discharge for the first and a fine for the second and a fine for breaching the original conditional discharge."

Katherine Tuthill, defending, said her client was an addict and would like to apologise for his behaviour. He had told her he needed help to get off the crack cocaine he was addicted to.

She added: "He was going to sell the items to pay for drugs."

Magistrates fined Duah £120 for the offence and ordered he pay £85 court costs and a £48 victim surcharge.