A plumber who claimed he stole 13 chocolate bars to give his children will spend the next four months doing hard labour in jail.
Neil St John, 52, of Mon Repos, pleaded guilty to larceny when he appeared before Princes Town Magistrate Nalini Singh. A video of the incident had been circulating on Facebook.
Prosecutor Sgt Shazeed Mohammed said Estate Constable Bissoon was on duty at Persad's Supermarket on Tuesday when he saw St John taking chocolate bars off the shelves in the grocery.
Sometime later the officer saw St John walk out of the grocery without paying for anything and with nothing in his hands. Another security officer approached St John and took him back into the grocery.
Upon searching him, Bissoon found the chocolates tucked inside in his underpants. The bars were each valued at $47.99.
St John offered to pay for the chocolates and asked for a fine. He said his intention was to buy the chocolates for his children, but he doesn't know what happened. He claimed he had been drinking puncheon rum earlier that day.
The prosecutor asked for a custodial sentence, citing the prevalence of the offence and his criminal record. St John had five previous convictions, three for a similar offence, in the last 10 years. He was only released from prison in March last year having served a jail term for stealing from a business place in San Fernando.