Shoplifter stole booze worth £200

Stephen Sowersby took the alcohol from two supermarkets in Broxburn, West Lothian, at around 11am.

After stealing drink from a branch of Scotmid on April 28, he walked along East Main Street and stole some more from Lidl.

Livingston Sheriff Court was told that he was completely sober at the time and – despite battling heroin addiction – was not under the influence of drugs.

Sowersby, 26, of Newhaven, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to both shoplifting offences. He was on bail for another case at the time.

Jailing Sowersby for 140 days, Sheriff Martin Edington told him: “This took a degree of forethought, if not planning.

“You stole from not just one shop, but two and you stole far more than you needed for your purposes.

“You have eight pages of previous convictions and it comes as some surprise to me that the list runs to seven-and-a-half pages before you faced your first custodial sentence.”