A ‘present-day Fagin’ who used a child to steal £1000 worth of Lego and took other children into food and toy stores has been jailed.
Bradley Trott, 32, travelled from town to town taking items like meat and cheese to fund his drug habit during a spree in January this year.
He was likened by a judge at Bristol Magistrates Court to the character Fagin from Charles Dickens’ classic novel Oliver Twist who sent children out to pickpocket for him.
Trott got one child to help him steal Lego boxes worth £922.50, The Sun reports.
District Judge Lynne Matthews said: ‘You have every appearance of being a present-day Fagin.
‘You have been taking children into stores and getting them to help you steal goods to fund your habit.
‘My view is that you pose a risk to children and it’s very likely you will commit further offences.’
Trott, of Bristol, travelled around Bristol, Bath, Radstock and Glastonbury in Somerset on his thieving spree in January of this year.
Bradley Trott, 32, (pictured) travelled from town to town taking items like meat and cheese to fund his drug habit during a spree in January this year
He was likened by a judge at Bristol Magistrates Court to the character Fagin from Charles Dickens’ classic novel Oliver Twist who sent children out to pickpocket for him
The ‘present-day Fagin’ also admitted driving a VW Golf while high on cocaine without insurance
He admitted five charges of theft and one of attempted theft with all offences except for one involving at least one male child, who helped stash the stolen goods.
Trott was jailed for 26 weeks.
The ‘present-day Fagin’ also admitted driving a VW Golf while high on cocaine without insurance.
He has been banned from driving for 21 months, which includes his prison sentence.
The court heard Trott had a ‘decent family background’ but began using substances at the age of 17.
He was previously sentenced on January 29 for theft and handed a community order, in an attempt to address his drug issues.
But DJ Matthews said the community order was not working and children being ‘actively used to facilitate’ the offences was an aggravating factor.
And so Trott was given his first prison sentence.
He was also ordered to pay a statutory surcharge of £187 on his release.
