A Lithuanian man has been jailed for one month for stealing groceries worth almost £300 from an Enniskillen supermarket. 

Valdemar Drozd (27) of Birchgrove in Derrylin appeared before Monday’s sitting of Enniskillen Magistrates Court via video-link from Maghaberry Prison to face a charge of the theft of £298.22 worth of items belonging to Asda. 

In their evidence, the prosecution outlined that police officers had been tasked to the store at 4pm on June 24th after security staff detained the defendant as he left with a trolley full of loose and unbagged goods. 

When arrested for theft and cautioned by police, Drozd made no reply. CCTV showed the defendant enter the store with two other males. The other two accomplices proceeded to go around the store and filling the trolley with baby goods, before Drozd took it past the tills and out of the shop. When confronted by security staff, police were called and the defendant was conveyed to Enniskillen custody suite for questioning. Drozd told them that he believed the other two males had paid for the goods while he was buying cigarettes. He then went outside to smoke and said he hadn’t seen the goods being paid for. The court heard that the other two men had not been located as it was believed that they reside in the Republic. In custody, Drozd denied being part of a gang or involved in discussions prior to visiting Asda, claiming that the three had been in the area on a fishing trip and their calling to the store was unplanned. 

Prosecutors told deputy district judge Laura Levers that the defendant had a lengthy criminal record in Lithuania for dishonesty offences including robbery and theft. It was also confirmed that the goods in the trolley had been fit for resale.  

Defence solicitor Niall Bogue said his client had been in custody for 15 days as he could not offer police a satisfactory bail address. He added that Drozd had been working in farming and in a factory but he intends to return to Lithuania, adding that the experience had been a hard lesson for him. 

Addressing the defendant through an interpreter, the judge imposed a one month prison sentence and told him: “It must be clear to you that if you commit any other offences, it will be looked upon very seriously”