A thief who admitted stealing from Tesco, Morrions and Peacocks to fund his drug habit has been jailed.

Karl Brazier-Denning, 28, swiped almost £250 worth of items from six shops in the Margate area between October 14 and November 23.

He appeared before magistrates in Folkestone on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to six shoplifting offences.

The court also heard his heroin addiction has cost him his job, his home and his girlfriend.

Brazier-Denning, who gave a care-of address as Millmead Road, Dane Valley, Margate, had managed to leave the stores with all the goods he stole. He was identified later via CCTV images.

The court heard he first stole from the Peacocks store in The Centre, Margate, on October 14, taking £65 worth of clothes.

He also swiped £22.77 worth of meat from the Tesco store in Margate on October 25.

Then, on November 10, he took £40 of alcohol from the Morrisons store in College Square in the town.

He returned to the Tesco store on three other separate occasions during the same month and stole £31 worth of gin, £40 worth of meat and later swiped some pork joints.

Neil Sweeney prosecuting said: "None of the goods were recovered and he was identified by CCTV images later and then arrested over the matters. He made no attempt to pay for any of the goods."

During the hearing it was revealed Brazier-Denning was on a suspended sentence order when he committed the latest offences.

He'd been given the suspended sentence in March at Folkestone Magistrates' Court for similar matters and admitted breaching the order when he appeared this month.

Mr Sweeney also revealed Brazier-Denning has previously been convicted of an assault on an emergency worker.

The court also heard he had moved to this area to live with his aunt and get himself off drugs, which he'd successfully done initially.

However after an anniversary of his sister's death, he'd been feeling low and had been offered drugs after falling in with the wrong crowd and took them.

As a result, he lost his job, his home and his girlfriend. He started committing offences again because he had to go on benefits and couldn't afford to pay for his drug habit.

Magistrates decided to activate part of his suspended sentence and jailed him for 160 days for breaching the sentence.

He was also jailed for 60 days for all the shoplifting offences so will serve 220 days in prison.

Brazier-Denning was also ordered to pay £138.38p compensation to Tesco, £65 to Peacocks and £40 to Morrisons.