A Devonshire man who stole from employees at a Dundonald Street restaurant was yesterday jailed.

Michael Smith, 26, pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court to two counts of theft from Ten.

Prosecutor Robert Welling said the thefts occurred on April 20.

A restaurant employee saw Smith come out of the men's room and leave the cafe around 10.30am.

A customer then found a handbag in the bathroom which an employee recognised as her own. An Olympus camera, cash and a Bermuda bus pass were missing. The items were valued at $425.

A second employee checked his jacket and discovered an iPod nano was missing. The items had been kept by staff in a back room off limits to the public.

Smith was arrested on September 3.

Yesterday he told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner: “I'm terribly sorry for the wrong things I've done. If I were to see the gates of freedom today I would like to make drastic changes.”

He said he had been invited to join churches who might help him.

Mr Warner said: “Now you feel the gates of freedom closing, you decide to go to church? I think good preachers visit Westgate.”

He sentenced Smith to three months' imprisonment on both counts, to run concurrently.