A HEROIN addict stole jewellery worth £550 from a "Good Samaritan" couple, York magistrates heard.

Prosecutor David Tucker said that the couple gave Keith Matthew Morgan, 22, a roof over his head and a key to their home so he could come and go as he chose.

The court also heard that the "Good Samaritans" had given him financial help.

Mr Tucker said that while they were away in London, Morgan invited other people into their home, which he was not entitled to do, and stole jewellery from their bedroom worth £550.

He later told police he had sold the rings and a seal locket to pay a debt.

Morgan, now of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to theft, two failures to attend court and breaching a conditional discharge for shop theft.

But after the couple attended court to urge magistrates not to give him a jail sentence, Morgan was given a two-year community rehabilitation order. He must also pay the couple £150 compensation.

Defence solicitor Lee Goodchild said Morgan had come to York from Middlesbrough. The "Good Samaritans" had helped him withdraw from heroin and given him financial help. During his time with them, his behaviour had improved.

But if he had not paid the debt, his legs would have been broken, so he had stolen the jewellery. He had not attended court because he had not wanted certain people from his old life to know where he was.

Morgan had suffered physical abuse in the past which had resulted in him going into care and led to him starting to take heroin.

The couple told the court Morgan had tried to kick his habit and had not stolen from them in the first two months. But he had then visited relatives back in Middlesbrough. They felt that the three weeks he had spent on remand had been a sharp shock for him and that he needed the support he would get from a community rehabilitation order. But they were not able to offer him a home again.

Updated: 14:40 Tuesday, August 20, 2002