A MAN on court bail stole scrap metal from a skip.

Neville Baxter was bailed to appear before the court on an unrelated matter on April 16 when he was spotted carrying the stolen metal on March 18.

He was stopped by a PCSO who seen him carrying the framework, which he had taken from a skip on Grange Road in Darlington at around 3.20pm.

Baxter was also found with a wrench in his possession.

Mitigating at Darlington Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, Calum Terry said: “It was not of a particularly high value. He seen it, he picked it up and he knows he should not have.”

Baxter from Station road in Darlington pleaded guilty to theft and going equipped. He was given a £65 fine and ordered to pay £15 costs.