Shoplifter Mark Hankinson tried to steal two legs of lamb from an east Oxford supermarket by stuffing them down his trousers.

Hankinson, 29, of Lydia Close, Barton, Oxford, was arrested after a security guard noticed the hunks of meat bulging through his trousers at Tesco's store in Cowley Road, last month.

Yesterday, the 29-year-old pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates Court to theft of the lamb, worth £5.98. He also admitted stealing steak and another leg of lamb from the Co-op store in Cornmarket Street, Oxford, in May, and two counts of failing to surrender to custody.

Sue Davies, prosecuting, told the court Hankinson was spotted putting the steak and lamb in his trousers by a Co-op security guard who watched him through the store's CCTV system.

In the second theft, Hankinson put the meat down the front of his trousers. When interviewed by police he said he took the meat because he had to settle a debt of £25 with a person waiting outside.

Tanwyn James, defending, said: "The background to the offences is linked to drug debts and pressures surrounding him with old acquaintances."

Magistrates gave Hankinson 12 months probation and ordered him to do 60 hours community service.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.