Pair steal alcohol from Tesco in Bexhill

Tomas Domas, 25, and Kaminskas Marijonas, 22, were spotted in Tesco acting suspiciously on March 20.

Prosecutor Jeremy King said: "A security guard in Tesco was in the CCTV room and saw one of the defendants pushing a shopping trolley in the alcohol aisle.

"He was then joined by another man.

"The first defendant selected two bottles of brandy and placed them in a basket.

"He left the aisle while the second man took two bottles of Smirnoff vodka and a further six bottles.

"These were put in the trolley and covered up with items of clothing in the trolley.

"The pair then went to another part of the shop where the first defendant selected a PC software game.

"Police were informed at what was going on.

"One of the defendants attempted to remove security tags from the bottles of spirits.

"The other man took the software disc out of its packaging and stuffed this away in the wrapping paper section of the shop.

"The pair then left the store and were stopped by two police officers.

"One of the defendants produced a pair of wire cutters which were used to snip off the security tags."

Domas, of Stopford Road, London, and Marijonas, of Romford Road, London, pleaded guilty to shoplifting when they appeared before Hastings magistrates in court on Tuesday.

Ronan Crummy, defending, said: "Both came down to visit friends in Hastings and were going on to a party hence the theft of the alcohol."

Magistrates ordered Domas to do 150 hours of unpaid work and to pay 15 in compensation as well as 60 court costs.

Marijonas must do 100 hours of unpaid work, pay 15 compensation and 60 costs.