A young man who committed three offences in three weeks has been put on a community order to help him get his thinking right.
Lincoln magistrates heard that the 18 year old was drunk when he stole a pedal cycle from the town centre.
Kate Minihane, prosecuting, said CCTV operators spotted him acting suspiciously near a silver mountain bike which was locked at railings at the junction of Silver Street and High Street.
“He broke off the lock and rode it along High Street towards St Mary’s Street,” Miss Minihane said.
“When arrested, he said he was not in control of his actions because he was drunk.
“The owner of the cycle has not been identified despite a public appeal for information.”
The defendant from a Lincoln estate pleaded guilty to theft of the cycle on August 26. He also admitted that the offence put him in breach of a conditional discharge imposed for a dwelling house burglary three days earlier.
Miss Minihane said he stole a DVD player and a Freeview box which he sold to Cash Converters.
The court heard the burglary was at the lower end of the scale and because he was in drink when he stole the cycle he was not thinking straight. It was also pointed out that as the owner of the cycle had not been traced, the theft would have been hard to prove without the youth's own admission to police.
Magistrates said according to his record, the defendant had committed three offences in three weeks and they wanted him to address his thinking skills.
He has to attend a programme during the 12 month community order imposed by the bench and pay £60 costs.