A KIND-HEARTED security guard bought a sandwich for a penniless man he had caught stealing from a supermarket, a court heard.

Harrogate Magistrates' Court, in North Yorkshire, was told Shaun Noddings had not eaten for two days when he went to his local Morrisons store and made off with food worth £74.07.

Noddings, 42, of Albert Place, Harrogate, went to the Plompton Park supermarket on Saturday and loaded a trolley with food before pushing it through the exit, but the court heard he was stopped by a security guard.

Noddings admitted theft and was fined £50, with £69 costs, after his solicitor, Clive Farndon, told the court he had stolen out of "sheer desperation".

Mr Farndon said Noddings, the father of three girls, who lived alone, had used his £171 benefits to pay bills and had no money left for food.

"This was not a theft to sell-on or to feed a drugs habit. Quite simply, he was desperate.

"He explained his predicament to the store's security officer, who felt so sorry for him he bought him a sandwich there and then.''