[A] SHOPLIFTER who stole three pairs of women’s knickers from Workington’s M&S store has been handed a £150 fine.
Carlisle Crown Court heard William James Bawn committed the crime after his girlfriend “told him off for not treating her too well”.
As a result, 22-year-old Bawn decided to “get her a present”, but did so illegally as he pinched three items of underwear, worth £24, from the Pow Street department store on November 8.
He put the garments inside his clothing before leaving the shop without paying for them. But he was stopped a short distance away and, the court heard, had then been co-operative with police.
Bawn admitted a theft which put him in breach of a suspended 20-month jail term. This was part of his punishment at the crown court last August for offences which included making indecent photographs of children and flouting a previously-imposed sexual offences prevention order.
But Recorder Philip Curran decided not to activate the prison sentence, and he instead handed down a £150 fine to Bawn, of Main Street, Frizington, for the shop theft.