Men who stashed £1,700 in cosmetics inside gilets get community orders and fines
Two men were fined and given community orders after admitting stealing cosmetics valued at £1,711.50 which they stashed inside cut gilets.
Martin and Alan Corcoran, both aged 20, of different addresses at a traveller site in Lynton Close, London, were seen by security guards in Marks & Spencer, Shrewsbury, on June 30, 2023.
Both pleaded guilty to shoplifting when they appeared together at Telford Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Joanne Fox, prosecuting, said they had put items in a basket and headed to a CCTV 'blind spot' before putting a 'large number' of items inside padded gilets where the lining had been cut away. They headed for the exit without paying.
All of the items were recovered and Miss Fox said both men had been "dressed in a certain manner with the intention to steal."
Both men have previous convictions.
Charlotte Gregory, in mitigation, said the men had been in Shrewsbury visiting family and friends when "they came up with the idea that they should take the items and sell them to make money".
She said both had wanted to pay for college courses, and Alan wanted to be an electrician while Martin wanted to be a plumber.
She added that it had been a "stupid idea, a spur-of-the-moment decision."
Alan, she said, is living on a traveller site with no income and not on benefits. He said he was being supported by his family.
Martin, she added, was on Universal Credit.
"They tell me they are sorry and made a spur-of-the-moment decision that was a silly idea. Hopefully they have got a lot to offer if they put their minds to it.
"They are fit and healthy young men."
Dr Louise Bouic, presiding justice, asked Miss Gregory what the explanation was for them having cut gilets. Miss Gregory said she had been given no explanation of that by her clients.
The magistrates handed both men the same sentence of a community order to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, and fined them £114 each, adding prosecution costs of £185 each.
