A MAN walked out of a Blackburn town centre shop with a £79 cuddly toy tucked under his arm and without making any attempt to pay for it.

Blackburn magistrates heard that the offence was witnessed by a police officer who found that Trevor Gilchrist also had a stolen 36 piece dinner service on him.

Gilchrist, 50, of Skye Crescent, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to theft of the soft toy from Birthdays plc and handling the dinner service which had been stolen from Woolworths.

He was given a conditional discharge for 18 months and ordered to pay £75 costs.

Wendy Chappell, prosecuting, said that when questioned Gilchrist admitted buying the dinner service from a known shoplifter for £10.

Ian Huggan, defending, said Gilchrist had led a normal, law abiding life until a term of imprisonment resulted in him losing his job as a fireman.

"His family broke up, he lost touch with his children, he got involved with drugs and things spiralled downwards from there," said Mr Huggan.

"To his credit he has been making strenuous efforts to beat his drug habit and get his life back on track.

"The cuddly toy was very large, not something that would be easily smuggled out of the shop, and looking back he simply cannot explain what he was thinking of."