Drug addicted couple knowingly bought stolen mobile phones

Mark Anthony Bedder and Carla Billingham appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where they both pleaded guilty to receiving stolen goods.

The court heard Bedder and Billingham, both of Glenside Close Kirkby were found in possession of two stolen HTC ONE mobile phones when they were visited by a police officer.

The pair told the officer they had bought the phones from a mutual friend for £20 each.

The man had stolen them during a drug-fuelled burglary on a nearby home after smoking heroin with Bedder on January 28.

Bedder freely admitted the man told him he was going out to ‘raise some money’ and had returned with the phones and a haul of jewellery a laptop and an Ipad.

The victim of the burglary reported the theft and the serial numbers of the phones were traced three days later to the ones Bedder and Billingham bought.

Magistrates heard the couple were both heroin users, using the drug on a daily basis and had tested positive for opiates after their arrest.

Bedder was currently the subject of two community orders imposed for theft and domestic violence offences.

Defending Bill Soughton said they had not been offending on a regular basis to fund their addiction and buying phones had been ‘opportunistic’.

Billingham was given a sentence of four weeks suspended for 12 months.

Bedder was given a 12 week sentence suspended for 18 months.