AN "educated" man sneaked out of a St John's supermarket with two gammon steaks stuffed in his bag to sell them on for heroin.
Daniel Peters was caught by a store detective trying to leave the Co-op without paying for the joints of meat, worth £18.58, on Sunday, May 2.
Yesterday, at Worcester Magistrates' Court, he also admitted stealing a pair of Ben Sherman jeans from Debenhams, in Worcester High Street, and a pair of Nike tracksuit bottoms from the shop JJB, in the Shambles, in February.
The court heard how the 27-year-old "de-tagged" the £29.99 tracksuit bottoms with his teeth and concealed them in his jacket, but was spotted dropping the tags by a security guard as he walked through the shop.
When he was searched by police later on, the £45 pair of jeans and a pair of red wire cutters - which he admitted he used for shoplifting - were also discovered.
Suzy Duncan, defending, said Peters, of the Hopmarket, Worcester, had stolen the steaks to sell to buy heroin, but confessed he had taken the clothes to wear because he was short of money.
"He is desperate to find employment and is an educated man with five GCSEs, two A-Levels and a BTEC in computer studies," she said.
He was given a 12-month rehabilitation order and a 60-hour community punishment order.
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