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A man tackled by shop security staff as he tried to make off with £31 worth of fish fillets has admitted he also stole a £320 John Lewis handbag seven months earlier. Damien Cracknell, 24,

was homeless at the time of the offences, he told Leicester Magistrates' Court on Friday (June 6). He said that was the reason for the thefts. He also pleaded guilty to racial abusing a

police officer during an arrest in December last year and having cannabis on him during the fish theft. He said he used cannabis to help with his ADHD and depression. READ MORE:

'DISGUSTING' MAN MOLESTED TEENAGER GOING TO SCHOOL ON BUS The court heard the recent theft happened at the Co-op store in London Road, Stoneygate, Leicester, on Thursday, May 22.

Cracknell walked into the store at about 3.50pm and grabbed two cod fillets and five salmon fillets. The security guard saw him steal the item and apprehended him in the car park, holding

him in the store until Leicestershire Police arrived. When the officers searched him they found a small quantity of cannabis in his pocket. He was also charged with a theft in November last

year, in which he went into John Lewis in Leicester's Highcross shopping centre and left with a £320 handbag, which has never been recovered. The following month he was arrested for

another offence and told an Asian policeman to "get off" him and used a racial term. The magistrates heard Cracknell, of Rivers Street, off Tudor Road, Leicester, had previously

been convicted of two other thefts from 2024. Representing himself in court, Cracknell pleaded guilty to two thefts from shops, possession of cannabis and one charge of racially-aggravated

abusive behaviour. He told the magistrates he stole because he was homeless for about three years before finally getting a rented home a month ago. He said he was now getting help from his

doctor for his depression. He was fined £113 and ordered to pay £320 compensation to John Lewis as well as a £32 victim surcharge. The chair of the bench, Martin Pantling, told him: "We

hope from this point we don't ever see you again." Cracknell replied: "Yeah, hopefully not."