Man with 170 convictions stole a 'motorised disability trolley', TV and DVD player from Asda in Larne
A man with over 170 previous convictions stole a "motorised disability trolley" which he used to carry a 24-inch TV and a DVD player he swiped from shelves on April Fool's Day this year at Asda in Larne.
The three items were worth £557, Ballymena Magistrates Court, on Thursday (June 18), was told.
The trolley was worth almost £400; the TV was worth £138 and the DVD player was worth £23.
The defendant is Garth Ronald Ferguson (41), with an address at a Simon Community hostel at Curran Road in Larne.
A prosecutor said the defendant placed the stolen items into a "motorised disability trolley" and then left the store.
On May 1 this year he stole Bushmills Whiskey and vodka from Lidl in Larne worth £160. He entered the shop at 6.30pm, 7.10pm and 8.45pm.
When arrested he told police he was an alcoholic. On May 10 this year he took £17 worth of alcohol from Tesco.
Following that, police had gone to the defendant's address on May 11 and "the Asda trolley is outside his address so it is recovered".
A defence barrister said the defendant had addiction issues.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said the defendant had an "atrocious" record of 173 convictions. He handed down a six months prison term but suspend it for two years.
He said he would not order the defendant to pay any compensation still owed as he was unemployed and it might give him an "incentive to re-offend and that would be counter-intuitive".