A MAN accused of stealing spirits from a Newtown shop worth £300 is being searched for by police after he failed to attend court to answer a theft charge.

Wesley Hodgkiss, 22, had been due to appear at Welshpool Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, August 23, in relation to stealing 8 bottles of alcoholic spirits from Tesco in Newtown, valued at £301, on May 14 this year.

Hodgkiss, of Church Street, Essington, in Staffordshire, failed to attend his court hearing, so the bench ordered a warrant for his arrest.