A shoplifter caught stealing from Primark told security staff: “Yeah, you’ve got me and I’m coming back in.”
Christopher Joseph made the remark as he was detained when he tried to take two sets of bedding from the New Street branch in Huddersfield town centre.
The 49-year-old then refused to provide a sample of his saliva so that police could see if he had drugs in his system.
He appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to charges of shop theft and refusing to provide a sample for a class A drug test.
The bedding was returned to the store in a saleable condition following the incident on July 14.
Magistrates heard that Joseph had 49 offences to his name but had been getting to grips with the drug problem responsible for his offending.
Mike Sisson-Pell, mitigating, said: “He says this offence was a blip, he doesn’t know why he stole the bedding but he was extremely ill on the day and unable to get his prescription.
“When he was arrested he refused to give a saliva sample and says this was because he was feeling so ill.”
Magistrates sentenced Joseph, of Hillhouse Lane in Hillhouse, to a community order as punishment.
This includes six months of drug rehabilitation and he also has to pay £85 costs plus £85 victim surcharge.
