A DAFT crook has turned up in court wearing the coat he denied stealing. Stephen Kirkbride was ordered to surrender the �125 Craghopper waterproof when shop staff giving evidence against him realised it was the one he stole.
Store manager Deborah Robson said: "I pointed the jacket out to the police officer and he seized it straight away."
Kirkbride, 46, had told magistrates he got the coat � which had tears where security tags were ripped off � in a charity shop.
He said: "It was damaged but I thought it was a bargain." Judith Birkett, defending, insisted he would not have been stupid enough to turn up at court in a stolen coat. But he was convicted of theft at South Lakeland Magistrates' Court in Kendal, Cumbria.
And magistrate Jenny Farmer said his excuses were "completely implausible". Police had already found the coat's inner fleece after Kirkbride was caught nicking the item on CCTV in Feburary.
But cops had not located the outer jacket until he turned up wearing it.
Crown prosecutor David Duke said: "You're making this up as you go along, aren't you?" Kirkbride was bailed. Sentencing was adjourned.
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