A DELIVERY driver succumbed to temptation while seeking to leave a package at a neighbouring house, a court heard.

Craig Carr was to have dropped the parcel at an address in Burnopfield, near Stanley, County Durham, in August, but there was no-one home.

When he went to leave it with a neighbour, he found a conservatory door ajar and reached in to take the owner’s purse removing £20 and using a debit card for two purchases.

Uzma Khan, prosecuting, told Durham Crown Court, that the householder later went online and discovered two fraudulent purchases, one of £9.98 for lager at a convenience store, and £30-worth of petrol for Carr’s van.

CCTV checks revealed the same person used the card, on both occasions and Carr was identified.

When he appeared before North Durham magistrates the 31-year-old defendant, of Bettanby Road, Gateshead, admitted two counts of fraud and was found guilty of burglary.

His barrister, Michael Cahill, said Carr committed the offence, “on the spur of the moment”, on seeing the purse and claimed he did not enter the conservatory, but merely reached in to remove the purse.

Mr Cahill said it proved costly as Carr lost his job and added: “He’s ashamed of himself and has taken time to come to terms with what he did.”

Judge Deborah Sherwin imposed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, with 25-days of Probation Service supervised rehabilitation activity requirement. Carr must also pay £100 costs and a statutory court surcharge.