Pasta salad thief ordered to pay nearly £140

AN ASTWOOD Bank man has been ordered to pay nearly £140 for stealing a pasta salad worth £2.80.

Lee O'Sullivan, 22 and from The Ridgeway, appeared at Redditch Magistrates Court on Monday (March 18) after admitting taking the snack without paying from Boots in the Kingfisher Centre in January.

He was caught on camera and police stopped and questioned him shortly after.

O'Sullivan had already eaten the pasta salad and said he took it because he was hungry.

Defence solicitor Dean Hicks said he had fallen out with his mom and had not eaten properly or had a regular place to sleep for four days leading up to the theft.

O'Sullivan was ordered to pay £65 fine, £50 for court costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

He must also pay £2.80 compensation towards Boots who are also pursing civil action.

Magistrates urged the unemployed man, who is already paying back fines for previous theft offences, to try and get work.

"You must have been absolutely starving to steal it but at the end of the day it's wrong. You are just a young man getting yourself from one mess into another. It is a really vicious circle you are in."

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