A MAN who stole jewellery from his mother to pawn it to pay for his crack cocaine habit has been jailed.

Mitchell Laidlaw's cruel theft has left his relationship with his mother irreparably damaged after he sold the jewellery – some of which were family heirlooms – worth between £2-3,000.

Teesside Crown Court heard the 31-year-old had stolen the items between January 1 and May 1 to help to fund his drug habit after losing his job.

Simon Walker, mitigating for the defendant, said his client had been able to fund his own drug habit while he was employed but his problems began when he lost his job.

Mr Walker said Laidlaw, now of Tideswell Road, Eastbourne, was hoping to rebuild his relationship with his mother but realised it was going to be a long and difficult process.

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, asked for a restraining order to be imposed on the defendant to prevent him going near his mother or her Hartlepool home.

Judge Peter Armstrong sentenced Laidlaw to ten months in custody after he pleaded guilty to a charge of theft and gave him a concurrent two-month sentence for failing to surrender to custody.

He said: "You took jewellery belonging to your mother from your house and pawned it to raise funds for your crack cocaine habit, as a result of that your relationship with your mother has broken down.

"I don't know whether that will be permanent but you are going to have to work extremely hard to restore any trust she had in you. She tried to help you but you let her down."

The judge imposed a five-year restraining order preventing Laidlaw from contacting his mother and from entering Southbrooke Avenue in Hartlepool.

He added: "There is nothing to prevent her from contacting you is she wants to but you must not contact her."

Sentencing the defendant, the judge added: "An aggravating factor of the theft was that it was done for drugs.

"There was between and two and three thousand pounds worth of jewellery and that doesn't take into account the sentimental value of it as it was given to her by her mother.

"You helped in the recovery of some of the property and that is something that stands you in good stead.

"I sentence you to ten months custody."