A MAN stole Lego sets after taking a "considerable amount of medication", Worcester Magistrates were told yesterday.

Ian Lloyd, aged 28, was spotted by staff at the Tesco superstore in Warndon putting two Lego sets, valued at £33.98, inside his jacket.

"He was detained by staff as he made his way outside and held until police arrived.

They then arrested him on suspicion of theft," Kiernan Cunningham, prosecuting, told the court.

"He told officers he had consumed a considerable amount of medication on that date and could not remember any details of the incident."

David Jackson, defending, told the court that Lloyd, of Cranham Drive, Warndon, had not appeared before magistrates for seven years.

"I would invite you to treat him as someone who had been out of trouble for a considerable time," he said.

Mr Jackson added that Lloyd had a drug problem and the medication he had taken was eight powerful painkillers.

"This was some sort of momentary lapse," he told the court.

Lloyd, who admitted theft, was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £50 costs.