A NEWTOWN man tried to conceal a 40 inch TV down his trousers as a 'protest' at a town store.

James Lee Evans, 47, of Ceiriog Newtown, appeared at Welshpool Magistrates Court to be sentenced for drug possession and theft offences.

In February he was found guilty at a trial in his absence of attempting to steal the television from Lidl in Newtown and being in possession of Class A drug heroin.

Evans had pleaded guilty to further offences dating back to May and August, at the same Lidl store, where he attempted to take a shaver, battery charger and mosquito plug.

Sara Worland, prosecuting, said that Evans had attempted to take the Sharp TV, worth £240, in May last year, when he was seen to walk into the store, remove it from its packaging and "attempt to conceal it down the front of his trousers".

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He was challenged at the exit but made off. A few days after that he was stopped and searched by officers and they recovered a small wrap of powder found to be heroin, which he claimed belonged to someone else.

Later that same month, he returned to Lidl in Newtown where the store manager was alerted to a man walking down an aisle putting items into his pocket. Evans was stopped and found to be in possession of an angle grinder, rotary shaver and double battery charging unit. These items were recovered by the store.

On August 12, he again returned to Lidl in Newtown where a member of staff saw him pick up a mosquito plug, remove it from its packaging and slip it under his sleeve, which was also caught on CCTV.

Robert Hanratty, defending, explained that none of the thefts were planned, but were "opportunistic", adding that the attempt to take the TV was a protest about another matter.

He said: "He had gone into the store with a broken mobile phone and the staff refused to replace it as they said he was responsible for breaking it. He was then foolish enough to be seen trying to get a 40 inch TV down his trousers, as a bit of a protest about that, rather than dishonesty."

Mr Hanratty added: "He's not a heroin user which is why he was thinks it belonged to someone else."

Julian Davies from the probation service produced a pre-sentence report on Evans for the magistrates and added: "He took the TV as a protest at the refusal to replace a faulty phone.

"He tells me he just gets the urges to steal, and is ashamed about what he does. He says he is getting older now and needs to change his ways."

Chair of the magistrates bench Stephen Pembroke gave Evans a 12 month community order, with a tagged 8pm to 6am curfew, which will run for six months.

He will pay £1,450 in court costs after failing to show up for trial, a £95 victim surcharge, and £8.99 in compensation to Lidl for the mosquito plug which was not recovered.