A HEROIN addict tried to use a bank card stolen in a robbery to get money from a cash machine, a court heard.

Stephen Turnbull, 26, was put on a drug treatment and testing order for 12 months by Teesside Crown Court judge Peter Armstrong yesterday.

The court heard how a teenager snatched a handbag from a shopper outside the Morrisons supermarket in Ormesby Road, Middlesbrough, on November 7.

Within 20 minutes, Turnbull, who had a £30-a-day drugs habit, had tried to withdraw £100 from a cashpoint.

Elaine Farnsworth, prosecuting, said he was arrested a short while later and he showed police where the handbag and several credit cards had been dumped in a bin.

Turnbull, of Cotswold Avenue, Pallister Park, Middlesbrough, admitted handling stolen goods and attempted theft. The court heard how his previous convictions included robbery, theft, being drunk and disorderly, obtaining property by deception, assault and possessing Class B drugs.

Turnbull's barrister Mike Bosomworth said: "His record is not the worst in the world. Despite being a heroin addict, he has been out of trouble for most of the time."

Mr Bosomworth said he was putting a relationship back on track for the sake of his child and was hoping to get a job.

Judge Armstrong told him: "Handling stolen goods so close to a robbery is, in my view, almost as serious as the robbery itself.

"You could not complain if you had been sent into custody. If you breach the order or commit any further offence, nothing will save you from a custodial sentence."