A DRUG user who robbed a china shop in Kendal three days before Christmas has been jailed for six months.

Jason Sutton, of Overdale Close, Kendal, pleaded guilty to stealing £300 from Cumbria Pottery Centre on Friday, December 22.

He also admitted a separate charge of possessing crack cocaine.

Sutton appeared before South Lakeland magistrates on Tuesday, having spent Christmas and New Year behind bars.

He pleaded guilty to burglary after police dropped their initial allegation of aggravated burglary.

The court heard how 28-year-old Sutton visited the Cumbria Pottery Centre in Wildman Street and noticed that the till was sometimes left unattended.

Carrying a screw driver to help him get into the cash register, Sutton returned to the shop with a woman.

While the woman engaged the shopkeeper in conversation, Sutton stole from the till.

But things went wrong.

The female shop worker saw Sutton with his hands in the cash drawer - she tried to grab him but he fled into the street.

The woman then called the police and a search of the area was launched.

Sutton was found a short time later crouching in a ditch on nearby Ann Street clutching a fistful of £10 and £ 20 notes.

Sutton admitted to having a significant drug habit and said he was stealing to fund his addiction, but he said that he did not use crack cocaine often and had some of the class A drug just for an occasional smoke.

He told the court that his time in custody over the festive season had helped him stay drug-free and he hoped to turn over a new leaf in the New Year.

After representations from Sutton's defence counsel, South Lakeland magistrates chose to deal with the matter themselves rather than send it to crown court, where sentencing powers are stronger.

They sentenced Sutton to a total of six months in prison - five months for the burglary of the Cumbria Pottery Centre and one month, to run consecutively, for possessing crack cocaine.