A shoplifter has admitted to stealing hundreds of pounds of items, including £300 of champagne from Waitrose, in a string of thefts.

Martyn Dawson, along with three others, was spotted on CCTV stealing £284.92 of the popular alcoholic drink from the supermarket in Eaton, Norwich, on April 29 at around 7.30pm.

Dawson was the only one out of the four stopped. He pleaded guilty and was later sentenced at Norwich Magistrates Court.

Prior to the Waitrose incident, Dawson had stolen items from other shops in Norfolk. These occurrences were seen as “taken into consideration” (TIC) cases which were factored into his sentencing.

Dawson stole £150 worth of items from TK Maxx, £320 worth of items from Somerfield Stores in Earlham Road and £139.99 worth of items from Sally's Salon Services, in Barn Road.

He also stole an undisclosed amount of items from a Cooperative store, but all of these items were later retrieved.

Dawson was fined a total of £888.122. This comprised 25 per cent of the total amount from the Champagne, which came to £71.23, as well as the full value of the other thefts.

He also had to pay a £200 fine - taking the total to almost £900.

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A statement read out in mitigation for Dawson said: “During his time spent with officers he was calm and keen to put right some of the wrongs during this period of offending.

“Dawson expressed remorse for his actions and claimed his offending was largely down to alcohol addiction.

“He is also engaging with Change Grow Live and is motivated to take positive steps to make sure he doesn’t offend again through alcohol use.”

To tackle a surge in shoplifting incidents, Tesco unveiled last month a 4ft smoke device in some stores that should “deter thieves” from raiding shops.

If motion sensors are activated, dense smoke funnels out and fills the room to make it difficult for items to be taken.

A message on the front of the device reads: “Warning: You’re being watched. Smoke screen security fog in operation.”

Tesco has stressed that the units are not new and are not expected to be expanded to every store.