A THIEF was ordered by magistrates to pay for booze he stole from an Exmouth store.

Terence Waller, 37, admitted drunkenly making off with four cans of Special Brew lager from the Co-operative store, in Exeter Road, without paying, when he appeared at Central Devon Magistrates Court last week.

Suspicious staff called the cops when they spotted the man on CCTV on November 10 last year, the court heard.

Prosecutor Alison Jordan said Waller, of Albion Hill, Exmouth, was “very drunk” on vodka at the time.

She added he was seen putting the cans, worth just �4.25, into a carrier bag and was later arrested.

Unemployed Waller described the act as “selfish”.

He told magistrates last Thursday: “It was a stupid thing to do” and pleaded guilty to a charge of theft.

Waller was handed a 12-month conditional discharge by magistrates who warned him: “Any further offences in the next year and this one will come back and bite you.”

The Exmouth man was also ordered to pay the Co-operative �4.25 in compensation.