Former addict jailed for shoplifting

A LERWICK man has been sent to prison after going on a stealing spree from supermarkets to fund his craving for drugs.

On Thursday at Lerwick Sheriff Court, Iain Tulloch, of Flat 1, 4 Harbour St, admitted a string of shoplifting offences committed earlier this year.

The 45 year old kicked off the spate of stealing at Lerwick’s Co-op supermarket on Holmsgarth Road on 21 April by taking four bottles of spirits, with a total value of £78.

He then stole two bottles of port a day later at the same supermarket.

While on bail, Tulloch took two bottles of spirits from the Co-op on 25 April before pocketing another two bottles of spirits, one bottle of port and a pair of earphones from the Tesco supermarket in Lerwick on 8 May.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Tulloch had a problem with opiate drugs and he took to stealing drink to fund cravings for methadone.

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“He had a dependency which he could not afford,” he said.

The solicitor noted that his client had “weaned” himself off of his habit since being taken into custody in late July.

However Sheriff Philip Mann decided that Tulloch’s time behind bars did not “sufficiently repay his debt to society”.

Handing down a 15 week prison sentence for the shoplifting, the sheriff also ordered Tulloch to spend a further four weeks in prison for missing a court appointment on 10 June, all backdated to 29 July when he was first locked up.