A JUDGE told a cosmetics thief she believed he was working for a “criminal enterprise”.

Marius-Gabriel Pascu was warned that his refusal to give the court his address meant the judge had little choice except to send him to prison.

But District Judge Joanna Dickens stopped short of imposing an immediate prison sentence and instead gave the 45-year-old a four week jail sentence suspended for a year.

Appearing before Swindon Magistrates’ Court via video link from Gablecross police station, Pascu, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to stealing £300-worth of makeup from the Brunel Centre Boots store on Saturday, February 27.

Sentencing him, District Judge Dickens said: “I think you’re lying about not knowing where you live. I think you’re lying about coming to Swindon for work. I think you’ve come to Swindon to steal. I think you’re part of a criminal enterprise committing high value thefts. It is a well-established pattern.

“I don’t know why you’re not giving the court your address; that’s your business. I can’t assume that you’re committing offences at that address - that’s not right - but I do consider that you’re deliberately withholding information from the court.

“The problem that that gives you is that whilst this would normally be [dealt with by] a community penalty for this offence or a high fine, I can’t do any of those things because you’re withholding your address. So, the only thing that I can do realistically is to say that you have to go to prison for this offence.”