A man who stole a trolley full of goods from a store in Kilgetty was told that he could have faced a further spell in jail due to his past record, when he appeared in court this week.

Fifty-two-year-old Andrew David Broadhurst, of Holloway Court, Penally, pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing various groceries to the value of £412.91 from the Co-op store in Kilgetty, on May 7, when he appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Abul Hussain told the court that an off-duty police officer spotted Mr. Broadhurst exiting the store with a trolley full of goods and became suspicious.

CCTV was viewed and showed that the defendant left the premises without paying for the items before heading to the store’s car park.

Mr. Broadhurst’s vehicle registration details were passed onto the police and he was located and stopped, officers saw a large amount of groceries next to him on the passenger seat.

“He made full admissions at the scene. Mr. Broadhurst has a number of previous convictions against him, all mainly for dishonesty offences, burglary and theft,” said Mr. Hussain.

Defence solicitor Mike Kelleher told the court that Mr. Broadhurst was going through a ‘bad time’ when the incident occurred.

“He had lost his job of seven years, lost a long term relationship and was homeless - sleeping in a van for a number of months and sofa-surfing. This is a cycle he has seen before, and he has visited a doctor who has prescribed him anti-depressants,” he said.

Probation officer Julie Norman told the court that Mr. Broadhurst had served a long prison sentence previously and he was also subject to a recent community order which ended last year.

“There had been no offending since, but the loss of employment and the breakdown of his relationship had left him homeless, and he resorted to shoplifting.

“He says that he is nearly 53 years old now and fed up of getting into trouble, but when things aren’t going right, this is what he does,” added Mrs. Norman.

Magistrates told Mr. Broadhurst that this latest offence along with his past record was serious enough to consider a possible custodial sentence.

They handed him a 12 month community order with 100 hours unpaid work and a 25 day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement with thinking skills programme.

Mr. Broadhurst was told to pay compensation of £111.91 to the Co-op store, for the perishable goods that he stole, along with prosecution costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £85.