SHOPLIFTER Stuart Jonas who stole meat worth £100 from Waitrose, claimed he did it because he didn’t have a bank card and couldn’t get at the cash in his account.

The 37-year-old of Fairview, Swindon, admitted taking the meat from Waitrose in Mill Lane on June 6 when he appeared before a district judge at Swindon Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Pauline Lambert said he was seen on CCTV picking up meat, putting it in a trolley and then slipping it into a bag hanging off the back of the trolley before walking out without paying.

Drug user Jonas, who has previous convictions for theft, was last convicted in April of stealing a vacuum cleaner from Robert Dyas and put on a community order that runs until January next year.

His solicitor Emma Thacker told the court the probation service reported that he had been attending all his appointments. But the drug rehabilitation course had been suspended because he had suffered a serious infection in his leg following an insect bite that needed treatment in hospital.

He said he had not stolen the meat to buy drugs, but was short of cash because a lack of ID meant it was difficult to get a replacement bank card and he could not withdraw his benefits.

District Judge Simon Cooper fined Jonas £50 and ordered him to pay £100 compensation for the meat, as well as £35 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £35.