Dungannon perfume bandit in grip of heroin addiction jailed

Arnoldas Jokizas, 32, with an address given as Magilligan jail, appeared by video link at Dungannon Court on Wednesday.

He was accused of stealing a £35 bottle of Jean Paul Gaultier perfume from the New Factory Shop in Dungannon on April 27 last year.

The court was told that Jokizas approached the shop counter as if he was about to pay, but at the last minute made a dash for the door and made off along William Street.

Jokizas, who is currently in jail and not due to be released until March 14, was in the grip of a heroin addiction at the time of the incident said his solicitor.

He had been jailed for a number of similar matters, and is due to appear at Newry Magistrate’s Court for a further incident in April.

He has been in custody for almost ten months, and had been seeking professional help and working with services while in Magilligan prison to deal with his addiction, his solicitor told the court.

The defendant had been in breach of a previous deportation order, and had a partner and child living in Northern Ireland, the court learned.

Judge John Meehan referred to the defendant’s ‘speciality in stealing perfume from shop cabinets’ and made the jail sentence concurrent to his current prison term.