King's Lynn shoplifter had taken whisky

A shoplifter running out of a Lynn supermarket shouted to chasing staff that he had not taken anything.

But the evidence proved otherwise and serial thief Leon Dowd had swiped a one litre bottle of The Famous Grouse whisky.

And the offence put the 39-year-old in breach of a suspended sentence order imposed in December 2020 for having a knife in public.

Lynn Magistrates’ Court was told on Thursday that Morrisons staff had seen Dowd trying to take the security tag off the £15.99 bottle of booze.

He then placed it in a bag and headed for the exit, followed by staff. Prosecutor Lily Orr said: “He ran out, shouting ‘I haven’t got anything’.

“Security staff were not able to catch up with him.”

Miss Orr said Dowd’s record included 51 theft-related offences.

It was an “appalling record”, agreed solicitor George Sorrell, mitigating.

But he said there had been positive changes to Dowd’s life, including stable accommodation, which provided him with the chance to see his four children regularly, and Universal Credit payments.

Mr Sorrell said the offence happened a few weeks after Dowd’s mother had died, which had left his client very upset and with the belief there was no one else he could relate to.

For breaching the suspended sentence order, the defendant, of St Katherine’s Court, Lynn, had the operation period increased by two months.

He was fined £50, ordered to pay £15.99 compensation and £84 in costs and victim surcharge.