Thief stole grooming products to prepare for job interview – but was unsuccessful anyway

A thief made off with grooming products in a bid to prepare for a job interview, a court heard.Victor Otgon, 30, stole an electric shaver and perfume worth £110 from Boots on Lynn’s High Street on December 10.He appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court on Thursday, where he pleaded guilty to theft from a shop.

Crown prosecutor Colette Harper told the court that a member of staff had witnessed Otgon pick up the shaver, remove a security tag and place it in his bag.He then placed the perfume in the same bag, and made no attempt to pay for the products as he left the store.Staff alerted police to the situation via their ‘shopwatch radio’, while a street ranger kept an eye on Otgon’s whereabouts until officers arrived.He was stopped, detained and searched, with the products and a set of wire cutters recovered.Otgon, of Usk Road in Aveley, South Ockendon, Essex, appeared unrepresented in court.Speaking through an interpreter, he said: “I wanted to get ready for work, for a job, because I wasn’t in a very good position work-wise or money-wise.“I just wanted to be ready. On the following day, on December 11, I should have had that appointment.”However, Otgon said he did not get the job in the end, and currently relies on his parents for financial assistance.Magistrates, chaired by Louise Barber, fined him £40 for the theft, and told him to pay £50 in court costs and a £16 victim surcharge.They also made an order for the forfeiture and destruction of the wire cutters.