A convicted thief yesterday admitted stealing meat and alcohol from a Hamilton grocery store after lapsing back into drug use.

Antoine Raynor, 44, pleaded guilty at Magistrates’ Court to stealing a bottle of liquor from MarketPlace in Pembroke on March 4 and five packets of meat from the same store on March 16.

Magistrates’ Court heard that on the second date, management at the store noticed Raynor and recognised him as someone who had previously stolen from the store.

Staff watched as he visited the meat department and the liquor department before walking past the cashiers towards the exit.

The manager stopped Raynor, asking to see his jacket, but Raynor refused and pulled away. As he did so, the manager grabbed his jacket and several packages of meat fell to the ground.

After a brief struggle, Raynor made good his escape.

Following the incident, management examined CCTV footage from the store and found that Raynor had been caught on tape stashing the meat in hs jacket.

Looking through older video footage, they also noticed Raynor taking a bottle of liquor from the store on March 4.

Raynor was subsequently arrested on April 17. When questioned he admitted attempting to steal the meat, saying he had intended to sell it to buy drugs.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner noted Raynor’s long list of prior convictions, saying the Mount Hill resident had already been banned from Robin Hood and all Arnolds Markets because of his past incidents.

Raynor told the court he “had a lapse” but was still working to address his drug problem.

Mr Warner ordered that a drug assessment be carried out on Raynor, releasing him on $2,000 bail until next month for sentencing.