A MAN stole from a supermarket as compensation after a staff member hit his car with a trolley.

Reece Douglas, 43, stole a trolley packed with £250 worth of goods from Asda on Bradford Road, Huddersfield.

Huddersfield magistrates were told that the dad-of-two felt that he was entitled to the items after the damage to his car left him out of pocket.

They heard that on September 17 his wife was shopping in the store with their children.

Douglas was waiting in the car for his family but his wife called him into the supermarket to help her.

Vanessa Schofield, prosecuting, said that while Mrs Douglas went to get some items she had forgotten, her husband pushed the trolley out of the store without paying.

The items taken were not recovered by the store.

Magistrates were told that Douglas, of Rushton Hill Close in Halifax, had previous convictions for shoplifting.

Andrew Vanzie, defending, said that there had been a break in his offending for some time because he had steady employment as a paint sprayer.

But when he lost his job, he returned to ‘what he knew previously’.

Mr Vanzie said that on a previous visit to the store Douglas’s car was hit by a trolley, causing £200 worth of damage to the vehicle.

Douglas had tried to get compensation from the store, but he was said to have been at fault because of where he parked the car.

Mr Vanzie said: “When the defendant went into Asda he made a split second decision, this has cost me £200 and now I’m going to cost them £200.

“It was him seeking retribution for something that happened previously rather than a conscious decision to steal that day.”

Magistrates said that they felt there had been a degree of ‘revenge’ and ‘preplanning’ in Douglas’ actions.

They gave him a community order for 12 months with supervision.

Douglas was ordered to complete 120 hours unpaid work and pay £250 compensation and £85 costs.