3:10pm Friday 9th May 2008
A JEALOUS man stole his former partner's bondage sex kit he bought her for her birthday so she could not use it again.
Paul Ashcroft, 41, had left the Gateshead home he shared with Claire Bainbridge when they split last September.
But he soon found out the mum-of-two was in another relationship.
Ashcroft then turned thief to make sure she could not wear his gifts of lingerie, shackles, gauntlets, and a whip - for her new man.
"She received a text from the defendant saying 'check your drawers,'" said Bridie Smurthwaite, prosecuting, at Newcastle Crown Court.
"She went upstairs and discovered the intimate items bought during their relationship were missing."
Ashcroft, from Scarfell Gardens, Lobley Hill, was arrested two days later and the kinky goods were recovered.
"He admitted buying the items for her birthday and admitted he wanted to stop her wearing them for her new partner," Ms Smurthwaite told the court.
Ashcroft, himself now in a new relationship, admitted theft in November last year.
He was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £450 towards the costs of the case.
"He was drinking and angry," said Michael Hodson, defending. "He is sorry for behaving in the way he did.
"The defendant accepts he behaved extremely badly. He now clearly understands this relationship is entirely over."
Passing sentence, Judge David Hodson said Ashcroft's thefts had been "pretty disgraceful".
"There is no excuse for doing what you did and stealing those items," Judge Hodson told him. I trust the relationship has come to an end. I have been told there have been no further difficulties.
"You each now have fresh relationships, and I suggest you concentrate on that."
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