A drug addict who stole fish and meat to sell to feed his addiction has been jailed for three years at Magistrates' Court.

On Monday, Raymond Troy Spence, 41, of no fixed abode and known to the courts for his offences dating back to 1981, admitted to five charges relating to breaking into the Coconut Rock Restaurant and Bar on September 29.

Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney read out the charges which described how Spence used a screw driver and other tools to gain entry to the restaurant through nearby ceiling tiles.

Spence was also charged with entering the premises with the intent to steal as well as possessing the tools with intent to steal.

The restaurant's manager found a door he had locked the night before pried open and a chef there discovered several packages of fish, steak, shrimp and chicken had been removed from the kitchen refrigerator.

A check of security camera footage revealed the identity of Spence, who was later picked up by Police and arrested.

He admitted to officers that he sold the meat packages on the streets to support his drug habit and to pay off debts.

"All I know all my life is getting high, I'm searching for love in the bottom of my heart," Spence pleaded to Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner, who said Spence had received every drug rehabilitative option Bermuda had to offer.

Mr. Warner sentenced him to three years in prison, saying "the public needs to be protected from you" and included a two-year probation period for Spence, once his jail term is completed.