Honiton man ordered to complete unpaid work after stealing bottles of Glenmorangie and Jack Daniels.

A Honiton man has been ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work after admitting stealing bottles of alcohol and being in possession of stolen laptops.

James Collingwood David Trower, 31, of Marwood Place, pleaded guilty to stealing three bottles of Glenmorangie and two bottles of Jack Daniels and a separate offence of handling stolen goods when he appeared at Central Devon Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The prosecution said, on January 20, Trower entered the Co-operative store in Lace Walk with another man and was captured on CCTV.

He went over to the alcohol display area and removed a carrier bag from his pocket and placed the items, valued at �144.05, inside and also under the left arm of his jacket.

The defendant was identified on the CCTV footage at the store.

On May 19 he was found in possession of three laptops which were recovered during a search of the loft area of a property following an incident of theft.

The recovered laptops, including ones made by Dell, were identified by the owner of the computers.

James Rickard, defending, told the court that the 31-year-old had a “long history of drug abuse”.

He said Trower is currently working with ENDAS, the Exeter, East and Mid Devon Substance Misuse Team, to resolve his drug problem.

Magistrates applauded his efforts so far.

Trower was also given a community order for 12 months and ordered to pay compensation of �144.05 to the Co-operative store.