Thief Daniel Toy stole from seven-year-old's piggy bank

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-46608996

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A man who stole £100 from a seven-year-old's piggy bank as part of a seven-week theft spree has been jailed.

Daniel Toy, 25, took nearly £1,000 worth of items from the child's family who had given him refuge from rough sleeping, Truro Crown Court heard.

Toy, who was jailed for nine months for "prolific theft", also stole from several supermarkets, the court heard.

He was previously jailed in 2017 for stealing a police car and driving it across southern England at high speeds.

Toy has a history of 50 offences committed since 2006, the court heard.

He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to eight charges of theft and one of possessing heroin. He denied a charge of possessing a knife in public, for which he will not face trial but which will lie on file.

Prosecuting, Simon Burns said a "particularly mean" theft was when Toy, of no fixed abode, raided the home of family friends who had "taken pity on him for being homeless" and provided shelter.

His crime spree between August and October 2018 included snatching £140 cash from a man in the street who had just given him £60, and stealing items including champagne and computer consoles from supermarkets in the St Austell area of Cornwall to the value of about £500, the court was told.

His defence said on Tuesday his offending had been driven by drug use after the death of his father, and that since being in prison he had successfully withdrawn from taking them.

Toy previously made headlines for stealing a police car from Camelford Police station in Cornwall on 8 October 2016.

He drove it at speeds up to 124mph before being stopped by a stinger device 230 miles away in Slough, Berkshire.