Bassetlaw addict who stole from health food store must sort himself out or die

Tony Matkin stole a basket of items including multivitamins, protein powder and oils, from Holland & Barrett, on Bridge Street, Worksop, on March 1.

A week earlier he took £18 of meat without paying from Farmfoods, on Memorial Avenue, said prosecutor Daniel Wilshaw.

Nicola Thorpe, mitigating, said the 33-year-old deserved credit for his early guilty pleas and had nothing on his criminal record since 2018.

She said he has suffered from drug addiction, but in 2018 he 'knuckled down and was working and got his own place.'

But in 2021 a combination of mental health issues, including 'anxiety, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)' meant he had to give up his job and, as a result, he lost his home.

Matkin was living in a hostel along with other drug users, she said, when he relapsed into drug use.

"It's rather a sad situation because he feels if he doesn't get himself sorted out he will end up dead," she said. "He wants to sort himself out for his two children."

“He got back into his habit very recently. He may be suitable for a drug rehabilitation requirement.”

Sentencing was adjourned until July 28 because no probation officers were available to prepare a report.

Matkin, of White House Road, Bircotes, admitted two counts of theft when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Tuesday.