A MAN who found a purse and used a debit card to buy £30 of scratch cards at a Skipton shop has been given a 12 month community order and told to pay £50 in compensation.

Leigh Halford, 49, of Bennett Street, Skipton, admitted one charge of fraud by false representation on June 11 this year at the SPAR shop, in Sackville Street,

Skipton magistrates were told a girl lost her purse in town which was picked up by ‘opportunist’ Halford. He bought scratch cards and when he tried to use it a second time access was denied and he threw the card into the canal.

The girl and her mother went to SPAR after using a mobile banking App that highlighted an unknown transaction there. Staff recalled seeing Halford.

The victim then saw the defendant nearby who matched the description and confronted him. He handed the purse back but it was missing personal items.

Halford, a relapsed heroin user, was also ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a £95 surcharge.