Man 'driven to drugs' after girlfriend forgot gravy
A reformed drug addict turned to crack cocaine because his girlfriend didn't make any gravy for their Sunday roast dinner.
Paul Dibble, 30 of Galway Road, Knowle, then went on to steal 44 chocolate bars to sell for drugs, Bristol Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.
The thief pleaded guilty to stealing confectionery worth £52.60 from Tesco on May 4.
Magistrates gave him a conditional discharge and ordered he pay £60 in prosecution costs.
May Li, prosecuting, said: "At 9.30am, the store manager at the Tesco Express in Clare Street saw the defendant select a large bar of chocolate, conceal it in a bag and walk towards the exit.
"He was detained and 44 bars of chocolate were concealed in his coat.
"He admitted the theft, and said he was going to sell it for £20 to buy drugs.
"He had been clean for a year but had had an argument with his partner three weeks previously and relapsed.
"He tested positive for cocaine."
Dibble had 30 previous convictions for similar offences between 1997 and 2007, the court heard.
Sam Stevens, defending, said: "He has been out of trouble for quite a while by his standards.
"He has been using heroin for 15 years, since he was 15-years-old.
"He received a prison sentence towards the end of 2007 but two days after his release he was remanded in custody for an offence he hadn't committed. It took five months in custody to find out he was innocent.
"When he came out he was clean from heroin and has been clean ever since.
"His girlfriend was a cooking a Sunday roast and she committed the cardinal sin of not putting any gravy on it. That prompted an argument and she asked him to leave.
"A friend of his had a problem with crack cocaine, and he took it while feeling at a low ebb.
"The good news is he's back on track. He's clean and is back with his girlfriend."
2 Comments
by margaret, hartcliffe
Saturday, May 30 2009, 12:57AM
“you are so right, there is always a solicitor to make pathetic excuses (whilst making a fortune for theirselves) the bit that really annoys me is it seems these judges have no minds of their own to be able to see that most of the excuses given is a load of rubbish ,and do whatever the solicitors suggest as punishment,of course the solicitor wants to get them off with a slapped wrist because they know theywill reoffend and that means more money for them so much for british justice ,always has been and always will be on the side of the offender and not the victim”
by Vic, Bristol
Thursday, May 28 2009, 9:25AM
“This isn't really a story about drugs or gravy, it is a story of theft and a story where the punishment does not fit the crime. If a serial offender has 30 similar convictions and has likely committed more offences that he has not been prosecuted for, then he needs more than a slap on the wrist.
The drugs and the gravy is an example of the lame excuses that defence solicitors seem obliged to present to justify their fee.
And the story is written like it has a happy ending. She never forgot to make the gravy again and they all lived happily ever after. The End.”