A man tore security tags from bottles of expensive aftershave in Workington's Debenhams. a court heard.
By damaging products inside the department store, on March 17, Joshua Andrew Thwaites flouted the terms of a suspended jail term. This had been handed down by a judge only months before for a spare of shoplifting offences.
Thwaites, 25, appeared at Carlisle Crown Court today where he admitted causing damage to three Armani aftershave bottles valued at £203.
Recorder Philip Curran heard the former heroin addict had a total of 59 offences on his criminal record - many for dishonesty.
But it was said Thwaites had made a concerted effort to get clean and that the Debenhams crime was a momentary lapse during a period of otherwise positive progress.
Recorder Curran decided against a prison sentence and instead imposed 200 hours' unpaid work. Thwaites, of South William Street, Workington, must pay £203 compensation and £200 costs.
He was told by the judge: "I hope we don't see you back here again."
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