A HARD-UP Carlisle man stole wood worth £800 in a series of raids on a remote storage yard.

At the city’s Rickergate-based magistrates’ court, Marc Paul Austin admitted four thefts.

Pam Ward, prosecuting, described how the owner of the Temple Sowerby storage yard became suspicious when she arrived there one day to find her stock of wood in disarray.

“She uses the yard to store firewood,” said Mrs Ward.

But on four separate occasions – on August 22, September 9 and 22, and October 4 – wood was stolen from the yard.

Some of the thefts were captured on the yard’s CCTV system, which showed the defendant dragging large bags packed with firewood to the boot of a Ford Focus car and then driving off.

Some images showed that he had an accomplice, who has not been identified.

On each occasion, the thefts happened late at night.

The victim said that the value of the wood taken was about £800. She also had to pay for new padlocks.

In total, she calculated that the thefts had cost her in the region of £900.

Police were able to identify the defendant after viewing the CCTV images of the thefts.

Paul Tweddle, for Austin, of Dobinson Road, Raffles, Carlisle, said : “He stole the wood because of his economic difficulties.

“He sold it for nominal sums of money.”

The lawyer accepted that the defendant – a father-of-four – had been guilty of some pre-planning.

Austin was given a 12-month community order by the court.

As part of that he must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement, which includes complying with instructions from the responsible officer and participating in any activity required, up to a maximum of 15 days.

The court fined him £30, and ordered him to pay £910 compensation to the storage yard owner.

However, Austin was told that he must pay off previously existing compensation orders before he begins to repay his latest victim.