TWO brothers have been jailed after a series of thefts from Huddersfield stores.

Huddersfield magistrates sentenced Chris and James Richardson to 16 weeks in jail each when they appeared in court yesterday.

The bench heard that the pair, of Great Northern Street, already had over 50 convictions between them.

It was revealed in court that the pair’s crimes have been fuelled by their addiction to drugs.

Magistrates heard how the pair assisted each other in some of the thefts, including an incident when they took bedding from Dunelm Mill over two days.

On September 4 James, 27, entered the store and left the store without paying as his brother acted as lookout.

The same day Chris entered Boots at Great Northern Retail Park and stole makeup.

On September 5 the 28-year-old stole a further £100 worth of items from the same shop.

He was caught by security staff but James helped him escape by pulling him away from them.

Also on that day, the pair stole designer Superdry jackets from House of Fraser, with Chris this time as lookout for his brother.

Chris also stole a quantity of cheese from the Coop store in Holmfirth on August 14 as well as toiletries from the Moldgreen Tesco Express on August 29.

The pair pleaded guilty to all the charges as well as refusing to provide a drugs test for opiates and cocaine.

James also pleaded guilty to racially aggravated threatening behaviour on July 31.

Magistrates were told that he was ejected from the Camel Club on John William Street and swore at a police officer when asked to leave the area.

They were told that Chris has 31 previous convictions while his brother James holds 22, most of which are for dishonesty and theft-related offences.

Their solicitor Charles Ainley said: “For both of them the motivation for the offences has been drugs driven.

“They both have difficulties with drugs and the thefts have been out of desperation to get their next fix.”

Sentencing the brothers to 16 weeks each, bench chairman Barry Bedford told them that they had failed to comply with previous community orders imposed by magistrates.

He told them they merited a custodial sentence because of their poor record and persistent shop thefts.