A MAN who stole a £86 bottle of Paco Rabanne from Rackhams in Skipton has been given a conditional discharge.

Paul Carr, 47, who was ordered to compensate the store, took the aftershave from Rackhams on November 16, heard Skipton magistrates.

Carr, who the court was told was homeless at the time, sold the aftershave to buy money for food.

Staff were alerted by his appearance when he entered the High Street store and after he left carried out a stock check and viewed CCTV footage, said prosecutor, Melanie Ibbotson.

When he was interviewed by police, Carr declined to make any comment, even when shown the CCTV footage. He had appeared at various courts 46 times, and the last time on January 1 for a shoplifting offence, which he had carried out before the one in Skipton.

Mitigating for Carr, who admitted theft, Keith Blackwell said his client had been homeless when he had carried out the theft, and was now in stable accommodation and in receipt of employment benefit. He was hoping to turn his life around, said Mr Blackwell.

Carr, of West Bank Close, Keighley, was given a 12 month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £86 compensation to Rackhams. There was no order for costs or surcharge.