CCTV footage prompted man to admit theft from city store

A CITY man admitted he tried to steal around £30 of deodorants, but only after he saw himself doing it on CCTV.

Brian Gunningham, of Harwell Street, appeared at Plymouth Magistrates Court to face the charge of theft from Wilkinsons store on November 20 last year.

Prosecutor Angela Furniss explained how 53-year-old Gunningham had changed his plea from not guilty to guilty after he was allowed to view the CCTV footage.

She said Gunningham had entered the store with another man and the pair was seen walking up and down the aisles. However, he then went to a secluded part of the store and placed a number of items into his rucksack.

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He was stopped by security staff and the bag recovered. Inside, they found 11 Lynx products.

She said that on arrest Gunningham told police he had not gone into the store to steal, but once inside he said "I couldn't help myself".

However, when he first appeared at court he denied the offence and demanded to view the CCTV footage.

His advocate, Stephen Walker, said Gunningham had "significant mental health difficulties and physical difficulties".

The 53-year-old had a number of previous convictions and had been subject to "some fairly strenuous orders".

He had been handed a six-month curfew, exclusion orders, drug rehabilitation referral orders and supervision orders in the past.

Magistrates chose to commit the case to crown court for sentencing.

Gunningham, who was granted bail, will appear at Plymouth Crown Court on March 1.