A Portadown man who stole £28 worth of items from a supermarket in Armagh city centre has been jailed.
Gerald John Brampton Wood, of Garvaghy Park, appeared before Armagh Magistrates’ Court, via videolink from Maghaberry on Tuesday, and pleaded guilty to three counts of theft.
The 39-year-old walked into Emerson’s supermarket on Scotch Street on August 5 and stole items to the value of £10.47.
He did the same again on August 17 and August 19, stealing £11.67 and £4.69 worth of goods.
Wood’s defence solicitor conceded that she was at the judge’s mercy given the 130 previous convictions against her client.
“What I can say is that this was an unsophisticated, spur of the moment, shoplifting of a total value of less than £30,” she said.
District Judge Anne Marshall questioned if Wood was in custody for any other matter, to which the defence confirmed he was not.
Having spent close to four weeks in custody on the theft matters, Judge Marshall handed Wood a two month custodial sentence which, she said, could see him freed in a day or two.
He was also handed a £25 offenders’ levy but refused a compensation order, stating: “I think it would cost more to try and get that off him.”
