Man sentenced for Tesco theft

Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, was told Christof Piotrowski (40), of Firmount Drive in Antrim, committed the ofence at 11pm on September 19 last year.

The defendant appeared at court via a video link from prison where he is a sentenced prisoner in relation to the theft of £9,000 from Bally Bingo, Ballymena. In relation to the earphones, a prosecutor said after removing the earphones from a box the defendant had gone to leave the store but when he saw a security guard he went back and put them in the box.

Defence solicitor Andrew Kinney said it had been an “opportunistic” incident. The lawyer told the court of details concerning the previous bingo hall theft. Mr Kinney claimed a safe had been “left open” and the defendant took £9,000 - £8,000 of which he used to pay off a “gambling” debt to “unsavoury people” and gambled the other £1,000. For the Tesco theft the defendant was given a two months jail term.