A sock stealing shoplifter has been ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £240.

Liudas Zabukas, of Hadleigh Road, Ipswich, pleaded guilty to theft when he appeared before the town’s magistrates.

The 31-year-old, who had 10 previous convictions for 17 offences including four thefts, stole two pairs of Pringle socks worth £30 from Matalan in Ranelagh Road, Ipswich.

Prosecutor Emma Howson said a member of staff saw Zabukas acting suspiciously before leaving the store.

Zabukas was believed to have taken items with him and police were called.

Officers identified him as he walked away from Matalan and found the socks in the waistband of his trousers.

Zabukas told the court he had been a heroin addict at the time, but was not using drugs now and was working in a factory.

The theft occurred at 3pm on August 16 last year.

The court also heard that in the same month Zabukas had been fined £135 for another shoplifting offence.

Magistrates fined Zabukas another £135 for stealing the socks and ordered him to pay £105 in costs and a victim surcharge.