Thief 'preyed on vulnerable victim' and stole from patient's bedside at hospital

A thief stole a hospital patient's mobile phone and wallet from her bedside as she slept, a court heard.

Daniel Skelton was a patient at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield when he went into a cubicle in the Accident and Emergency department, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Oishee Dey said a woman in the cubicle had left her iPhone 16 and her wallet containing bank cards, driving licence and £30 in cash next to her bed.

Miss Dey said the woman saw Skelton in a corridor trying to approach other patients before she fell asleep just before 1pm on October 10.

She was woken around half an hour later when she heard a nurse shouting and saw Skelton running away.

The woman realised her phone and wallet were missing and used a tracking app to trace it to an address in Wakefield.

She contacted police, who went to the address and found Skelton with the phone and wallet in his pocket.

Skelton, 44, of no fixed abode, admitted theft

Skelton, has 70 previous convictions for 210 offences, 143 of which are theft-related.

Brogan Riley, mitigating, said: The defendant was in hospital receiving treatment for a lump on his head at the time of the offence.

Miss Riley said: "He also accepts he has had severe issues with alcohol and drugs, mainly heroin.

"He stole these items to fund his own drug habit. He is ashamed of his actions. He is incredibly sorry."

Miss Riley said Skelton is on methadone in prison.

She said: "He is in a much more stable position. He is feeling much better supported than he was in the community."

Judge Simon Phillips KC said: "You targeted and preyed upon a vulnerable victim.

"You did not have any regard whatsoever to their situation....It must have been highly distressing."

Judge Phillips jailed Skelton for 12 months.