A man stole gift sets worth nearly £30 from a Spalding store and sold the contents for a tenner to buy food.
Christopher Morris (26) went into B and M Bargains, emptied the contents from FCUK gift sets and then put the empty boxes back on the shelf.
Rebecca Ritson, prosecuting, said Morris was in the store shortly after 3pm on November 14.
Magistrates heard the offence put him in breach of a suspended sentence order, but decided not to activate the sentence because he has done so well on the related community order.
Probation officer Chris Payne told the court: “It appears to us that Mr Morris is turning himself around and getting straightened out.”
Morris, of Ayscough Avenue, Spalding, admitted theft of the gift sets, worth £29.97, and was conditionally discharged for a year.
He must pay £30 compensation to the store, £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Solicitor Rachel Stevens, mitigating, said historically Morris had stumbled from crisis to crisis, but has sorted out his life by finding his own accommodation and attending the Jobcentre twice a week.
But she said: “He is hitting brick walls every time he applies for a job as soon as he discloses his criminal record.”