Drug user jailed for stealing sunglasses from Hove shop
A drug user has been jailed for stealing four pairs of sunglasses from a shop in Hove.
John Austin, 35, of Bennett House, North Place, Brighton, stole the shades, worth £86.97, from TK Maxx at the Goldstone Retail Park, in Newtown Road, Hove.
He was caught on Wednesday 17 June and, at Brighton Magistrates’ Court, he admitted the theft.
Austin was jailed for 21 days because, the bench said, the offence was so serious and met the “custody threshold due to (his) previous offending history”.
He was also jailed for 21 days for two other offences, both drugs-related, with his record again taken into account. He will serve the three prison sentences concurrently – that is, at the same time – making a 21-day sentence in total.
Austin was caught with heroin and cocaine on him in St Peter’s Place, Brighton, on Wednesday 13 May. The court ordered the drugs to be forfeited and destroyed.
Austin was ordered to pay a £180 criminal courts charge, £85 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.
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