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Drunken shoplifter had been ‘rather stupid’
A DRUNKEN shoplifter who targeted the same store twice in 24 hours has been spared jail.
Bryan Godwin, 55, admitted stealing razors from the Boots store in the Grand Arcade before Wigan Magistrates’ Court yesterday – just 24 hours after appearing before the same court charged with a carbon copy offence.
Mike Ardern, prosecuting, opened the case by admitting to feeling “a strong sense of deja vu”.
He told how Godwin had only left the court a couple of hours before repeating the same offence he had committed the previous day. At about 5pm on Wednesday the defendant was spotted placing razors worth £23.98 into a bag by a plain clothes security guard.
Godwin then tried to leave the store without paying for the items and was stopped as he left.
In interview, he made a full and frank admission. He told how he had had a couple of drinks but still knew what he was doing was wrong – describing it as a “spur of the moment” mistake.
Melissa Fagan, defending Godwin, said her client’s mode of offending was petty dishonesty and that he posed no threat to the public. She told how the defendant had a longstanding booze problem and might benefit from a period of probation service supervision.
Ms Fagan added that, apart from the 10-week curfew imposed by the court a day earlier, Godwin was not subject to any other court orders. She did, however, concede that her client had been “rather stupid”.
Godwin, of Linney Square, Scholes, was handed a nine-month community order in which he must complete an alcohol treatment course. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £60 but there was no award for costs.
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Weather for Wigan
Sunday 26 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 17 C
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