Sniggers in court as Ann Summers sex toy thief is sentenced

Robert Walley pinched the top-of-the-range £60 sex toy from Ann Summers in Dudley Street, Wolverhampton Magistrates Court heard.

Mr Mark Cooper, prosecuting, said the 39-year-old was 'in drink' when he walked into the store and headed for the back of the building on May 20.

"He selected the sex toy and simply walked out without paying," Mr Cooper said.

The court heard that Walley had been spotted by staff who immediately reported the theft to the police.

The defendant was found in a nearby street and arrested, the prosecutor added.

Walley initially told police he had offered to pay for the vibrator, but in an interview conducted once he had sobered up he admitted the theft.

"This wasn't planned," said Mr Cooper. "He admitted that he didn't have the money to pay for the item."

There were chuckles around the court room when legal advisor Martin Dixon asked the prosecutor if the vibrator included batteries.

"I'll go and ask at lunchtime," said Mr Cooper.

Mr Nazir Hussein, defending, said his client had taken the vibrator because someone else had told him to.

"I can still smell alcohol on him now," said Mr Hussein. "I don't think he knows what's going on.

"He says he was so intoxicated that he doesn't even know that he committed the offence, although at some point he says he was told by someone that they needed a vibrator.

"There is an underlying issue here and that issue is alcohol.

"He was previously subject to drugs. That has stopped and he tends to drink more as a result.

"He is attending Aquarius and they are assisting him with the matter."

Mr Hussein added that the vibrator had been recovered.

The court was told that by committing the theft Walley breached a suspended sentence he had received in November last year.

And last week he had failed to turn up to court for a hearing because he 'got the dates mixed up', breaching his bail conditions as a result.

Walley, of Smestow Street, Park Village, Wolverhampton, admitted theft from a shop and breaching his bail.

He was jailed for a total of 14 weeks, ordered to pay a court charge of £150, £85 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.