Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, heard that on April 18, 2019, 36-year-old Daryl Paul walked into the Boots chemists on Queen Street, lifted two Nicorette quick mist sprays worth £58, put them in his bag and simply walked out
A prosecuting lawyer told the court three police officers identified Paul as the culprit from CCTV footage but the goods were not recovered.
Defense solicitor Andrew Kinney highlighted that the offense was more than three years ago and given the fact that Paul had served custodial sentences for other offences, papers could have been served on him before now.
Last year Paul – who has close to 200 convictions – was given a three-month sentence for stealing Noah Donohoe’s bag and trying to sell it while the 14-year-old schoolboy was still missing.
Last January, Belfast Magistrates Court heard that three days after Noah went missing in June 2020, Paul and a woman went into a Cash Converters store and tried to sell the laptop but staff refused to buy it and alerted the police.
Paul claimed he found the laptop propped up against a wall near Ulster University buildings in the city centre.
In court on Tuesday, District Judge Nigel Broderick said while Paul had a “very poor record,” the pre-sentence probation report was “surprisingly positive because you’re using your time in custody constructively”.
The judge told Paul, whose address was given as c/o Maghaberry prison and who appeared at court by videolink, “that’s to your credit”, so to reflect that and the delay in bringing the case to court, he imposed a one-month sentence and £25 offender levy.