RAYMOND DAVID CRAIG put himself firmly in the picture when he stole a security camera from Blackburn College. When a security officer viewed the tape, Craig was clearly shown as he removed the equipment from its mountings, the town's magistrates heard .

Craig, 28, of Palmer Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to theft of the £373 camera and to theft of a mobile phone worth £200 and admitted being in breach of a conditional discharge. He was sentenced to a total of 16 weeks in prison.

David Macro, prosecuting, said the security officer noticed that one of their cameras was not working. He realised that the camera had been removed. "He viewed a video and found the person responsible was actually caught on film," said Mr Macro.

Basharat Ditta, defending, said he had gone to the same school and youth centre as Craig before they went their separate ways. "It just goes to show how things can turn out," said Mr Ditta. "The difference between us is that Raymond Craig started using drugs and I didn't. Again it is that evil drug heroin that has caused him to behave in this way and while the public needs to be protected, so do the users."

Mr Ditta said both theft attempts were doomed to failure and showed the desperation caused by addiction. The phone had belonged to a long-standing friend of Craig's and he had asked to use it when they were in a pub. He stepped outside to get a better signal before walking off and selling the phone for £20.

"He picked up the CCTV camera, knowing he was being filmed, and again sold it for a few pounds to buy heroin," said Mr Ditta. "He wants to end this life of drug abuse. The body can only take so much and he is starting to become ill and I have told him that if he does not get off this he is going to die."

Mr Ditta said that as well as failing health, Craig had lost his family, his partner and everything else as a result of his addiction.