A THIEF attempting to steal a car radio was cornered by a police dog in a Radcliffe garage, a court heard.

Steven John Grocock (31) admitted the attempted theft of a car radio from Radcliffe Discount Car Centre in Radcliffe Moor Road and also having in his possession articles used in the course of a theft or burglary.

Miss Enza Chiappi, prosecuting, said the owner of the car radio company had contacted the police about an intruder and officers took along a dog handler.

A search ensued and the police officers then heard the dog barking and found he had cornered Grocock at the rear of the premises. The defendant had been trying to remove a car radio and had articles on the floor which turned out to be a screwdriver, a torch, and two spanners in a blue sock.

Grocock, of Horridge Street, Bury, co-operated with the arresting officers and said he had been driven to stealing car radios because of financial hardship at the time. He had tried to prise out one from a Toyota.

Defending, Mr Shabir Khattak said over the Christmas period casual labourer Grocock had run into financial difficulties and was facing numerous bills which needed paying urgently. He and his partner were due to be married next month and they had a four-year-old child and in desperation he had gone out to steal car radios.

It had been his extremely tight financial situation which had impelled him to act and not drugs as it had been in the past. Grocock had conquered his drugs problems and had settled down, said Mr Khattak.

After hearing that Grocock had a record of 39 previous offences and that he had served a prison term for dishonesty, the magistrates decided to order pre-sentence reports. He was granted conditional bail, and told to return to court to be sentenced on February 7.