A MAN has appeared in court charged with stealing £900 of polo shirts from Ralph Lauren at the Designer Outlet Village after he lost his job for not having the correct immigration paperwork.

Speaking through a Romanian interpreter 19-year-old Robert-Stefan Cocargeanu pleaded guilty to one charge of theft dating from Saturday when he appeared in the dock before magistrates sitting in Swindon on Monday.

Michelle Hewitt, on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service, told the magistrates: “The defendant was stopped inside the Ralph Lauren store at the outlet village.

"He had been observed in the store with two other men and the defendant had placed a large quantity of clothing into a bag. A member of staff asked him if he was going to pay for it and the defendant said 'no'.”

He was arrested and it was discovered he had £900-worth of clothing in the bag.

Defending him Jeremy Griffiths said his client had only been in the country for eight months, but when he wasn’t able to provide the relevant documentation to work as a labourer he lost his job.

Due to his lack of English he was unable to complete the necessary paperwork, although a member of the Romanian community had offered to do it for him for £180.

“This is a young man who would normally have gone in the right direction and worked hard for his money,” said Mr Griffiths.

Cocargeau was unable to tell magistrates or his defence solicitor where he lived but may have links to Walsall in the West Midlands.

Despite hearing that he had no income, the magistrates ordered that he pay a fine of £120 along with a £20 victim surcharge.