A MAN stole his mother’s cheque book so he could buy a musical instrument before pawning it for cash, magistrates heard.

Jamie Walker, of Linksview Crescent, Ronkswood, Worcester, entered the Music Plus store in Sidbury, Worcester, and paid for an alto-saxophone using a cheque from his parents’ joint account, having forged their signature.

A few days earlier Walker had been visited by his parents in his new house but returned with them because he said he wanted to use their shower.

It was while he was in their kitchen he took the cheque book from the drawer he knew his mother kept it in. When she heard the drawer being opened she asked him what he was doing.

Marie Watton, prosecuting, said: “He told his mum he was looking for his passport.

“She said he knew it wasn’t in there and 20 minutes later he left.”

When she later looked in the drawer she found her cheque book missing so notified her bank it had been stolen.

When she confronted him about it, he returned it to her but it had a cheque missing.

Walker had already gone into the store to buy the instrument, telling staff his dad was paying for it and had given him the cheque. He then went to the Worcester Pawn Brokers in St John’s and was given £150 in cash for the instrument.

The 20-year-old admitted two counts of fraud by false representation and another charge of theft when he appeared in court on Tuesday.

In mitigation, Rob Macory said Walker had been sent to prison in 2007 for criminal damage and he was not the sort of person you would have expected to be in trouble with the police.

He said Walker had a drinking problem but was trying to get back on his feet with a new flat and a job working in a Worcester bar.

But he said: “He does need some input to keep him on the right path.”

Magistrates ordered a full pre-sentence report to be compiled.

Walker will reappear in court on Wednesday, January 14.