Court reports were ordered on a man who yesterday admitted stealing from his family following a drug relapse.

Paul Williams, 44, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to one count of theft in connection with an incident on August 20 and a separate count of causing wilful damage in an incident on July 11.

The court heard that at about 2am on July 11, Williams went to his mother’s Southampton home and knocked on the door, telling her that he was thirsty.

She offered him a container of juice, but he demanded money instead.

When she refused, he became angry and smashed a kitchen window with a mop that was outside the house and knocked the mirror off a taxi parked outside.

Police were contacted and Williams was arrested on the scene for causing wilful damage.

The court heard that repairs to the window were estimated to cost $375, while the damaged vehicle mirror would cost $111.30 to fix.

On August 20, he returned to the home and entered without permission though a porch door and demanded money.

While his mother and her husband said they did not have cash, he began to search the room and eventually found a wallet underneath a pillow and took $20 before leaving.

Arrested on that incident, he told police: “It wasn’t $20. It was $10. He gave it to me.”

The court heard that Williams had struggled with drug addiction in the past and had been clean for two years before he relapsed during the summer.

Adley Duncan, for the Crown, said that while a short term of incarceration would be appropriate given Williams’s criminal history, there was a “wider issue” that needed to be addressed.

Magistrate Maria Sofianos ordered a social inquiry report on Williams and remanded him pending sentence, ordering that he attend drug treatment court.

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