Worksop man missed court date after being brutally beaten with golf clubs

Gary Storey left the store on Victoria Retail Park without paying for the items on June 19, before returning two days later to steal some more, said prosecutor Daniel Pietryka.

Ryan Higginbotham, mitigating, said Storey, aged 40, was homeless at the time and taking drugs with a bad crowd.

He said the same people who encouraged him to shoplift also attacked him with golf clubs, leaving him in hospital with three slipped discs and nerve damage.

The case was adjourned from December 7 because he was receiving medical treatment and his injuries have aggravated the seizures he suffers from.

"Since his arrest he has sought to distance himself from these people and the drug environment," said Mr Higginbotham.

"This has resulted in the longest period of drug abstinence since he was 16."

The court heard he now has stable accommodation.

Storey, of Kilton Crescent, admitted two counts of theft when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

The presiding magistrate told him: "It's a credit to you that you are taking steps. Five months (of abstinence) is fantastic and we hope it will continue. Your record is pretty rubbish but you haven't offended for a while."

He was fined £120 and ordered to pay compensation of £20 to the store, along with a £48 surcharge and £85 court costs.

“They just absolutely destroyed me,” Storey told the magistrates of the attack.