A MAN stole his mother's chequebook and bank cards and then used them so he and his partner could feed their heroin addiction, a court heard yesterday.

Harrogate magistrates were told by Michael Hammond, prosecuting, that Christine Palmer's name and Yorkshire Bank documents were used by her son Stephen and his partner Suzanne Brown to obtain a £1,000 overdraft from the HFC Bank and to obtain goods from shops all over Harrogate.

Mr Hammond said the pair bought a variety of items, sometimes costing only a few pounds and sometimes costing as much as £600, and later returned the goods to the shops for a cash refund.

The bank documents were taken between June 20 and July 8.

Palmer, 37 and Brown, 33, who share a home in Mayfield Grove, Harrogate, both pleaded guilty to two thefts and four deceptions and asked for 27 other offences to be taken into consideration. Mr Hammond said the total amount the pair obtained from stores such as Currys, Argos and the Yorkshire Co-op was about £4,000.

Mitigating for both Palmer and Brown, Geoffrey Rogers said their main motivation had been to fund their "serious" heroin addiction.

Presiding magistrate Brian Pattyson bailed the pair for a week while they underwent a screening process to assess their suitability for a drug treatment and testing order