A Pembroke Dock man with a ‘long and unenviable’ record of thieving has been told in court that he will go to jail if he offends again in the next year.

Forty-six-year-old Mark Ion, of Meyrick Street, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with the theft of meats and spirits from the Iceland store in Milford Haven.

Prosecutor Vaughan Pritchard-Jones told magistrates that on April 6, at around 6.30 pm, Mr. Ion went into the store and selected some cheap items and some expensive items that he concealed.

“He paid for the cheap items and not the expensive ones and walked out. Police arrested him, but the items were never recovered. Mr. Ion has a long and unenviable record,” explained Mr. Pritchard-Jones.

Defence solicitor Jonathan Webb told the court that it was an ‘opportunistic’ theft on this occasion.

“His last offence of this kind goes back some time. Mr. Ion’s offending has slowed down drastically and he is trying not to come back to court as regularly as he once did,” added Mr. Webb.

Magistrates said that due to Mr. Ion’s repeat offending, they were going to gave him a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months.

He was also ordered to pay £53.98 compensation to the Iceland store, £85 in prosecution costs and a £115 victim surcharge.