A TENANT who stole almost £2,000 of furnishings from his elderly landlord wanted a ‘lifestyle he couldn’t afford,’ a court has heard.

James de Jager, formerly James Becks, stole soft furnishings, bedside tables, lamps, a mirror, a de-humidifier and more from a flat in Park End, Oxford which is rented out by John Gitton.

The items were valued at £1,810 altogether and though some were returned, many were damaged such as the bedside tables, a bedspread, and a standing lamp.

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He was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday (December 12) for one count of theft of fixture by tenant where Judge Maria Lamb accepted the incident had had a ‘significant impact’ on Mr Gitton’s ‘life, health, and wellbeing’.

“You wanted a lifestyle that you couldn’t afford unless you took it at the expense of other people,” said Judge Lamb.

“You lied again and again. All this has had a financial impact on Mr Gitton. I accept the huge level of inconvenience caused to him, the significant financial harm and very evidently the emotional distress that there has been.”

Prosecutor Katie Jones said the theft had occurred between October 1, 2019 and November 15, 2019 after de Jager, 44, started renting the property in April.

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He had been released from prison a few months prior after being jailed for 18 months for taking out £30,000 of loans in someone else's name, using some of the money to pay for a family holiday to Mexico.

When de Jager, of Bennett Hill Close, Royal Wootton Bassett, left the property in November, the property managers, Finders Keepers, found the furnishings that Mr Gitton had bought were missing.

At the time, de Jager claimed he had taken the items by mistake but after numerous attempts to recover the attempts, he was arrested.

Reading an impact statement to the court, Mr Gitton said he had to spend £1,500 to refurnish the flat and had also lost £3,000 during the period the flat was empty.

He also alleges that de Jager owes £9,000 in rent which he is taking to the civil courts.

“I feel saddened and worried,” he said. “Saddened someone would act like this and worried it will happen again.”

Defending de Jager, Anita Clifford said the former estate agent had ‘struggled to reintegrate’ into the community after prison and felt ‘traumatised and alone’.

“He is intelligent but he is also somebody who appears to tether his self-wroth with material items,” she said.

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He was handed a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, six rehabilitation days and pay £1,000 compensation.