A 25-year-old man has pleaded guilty to stealing £214 worth of perfume from a Lowestoft store – 15 months after committing the crime.

At 3.28pm on May 7 2016, George Dobre, of Markham Avenue in Leeds, was recorded on CCTV at the Boots store in London Road near a perfurme display where two bottles were missing. He was stopped outside the store by security where he was seen putting the perfume in his car.

At South East Suffolk Magistrates Court in Ipswich on Monday, Dobre pleaded guilty to theft, and failure to attend court on June 2 last year.

Christopher Day, chair of the bench of magistrates said that they had been “mindful of the early guilty plea” and said Dobre must pay compensation of £214 to Boots, after none of the perfume was recovered, as well as £85 court costs and £85 victim surcharge.

Dobre has also been ordered to carry out 100 hours of work in the community.