Teenager with ‘16 mouths to feed’ spared jail for shoplifting

A TEENAGE shoplifter who stole baby food and clothes worth nearly £400 escaped jail after claiming he had 16 children to look after.

Marius Stanica, 19, an unemployed Romanian, was caught as he tried to wheel a trolley laden with Aptamil baby formula milk, clothes and food out of a Tesco Extra store.

He had hidden the goods, worth £389.03, under a pile of multi-pack bags of salt and vinegar crisps, magistrates heard. A second man fled before staff could catch him, but Stanica was detained. When asked why he was attempting to steal such a large quantity of baby food, he told the manager of the store in Newmarket, Suffolk, that he had “16 children to feed”.

He offered to pay for the goods with his aunt’s card, but payment was refused. No details were given in court about the 16 mouths he claimed to be feeding and whose children they were.

It was not explained why Stanica, from Canning Town, east London, was 60 miles from home, on Feb 24. Stanica admitted theft, and South East Suffolk magistrates’ court, in Ipswich, ordered him to do 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £135 in court costs.