Most shoplifters go about their business swiftly and decisively...

But 45-year-old Michael James Roberts may have set a new Cumbrian record for low-speed crime when he pilfered biscuits from a shop in Workington - and took more than seven minutes to complete the task.

In a remarkable piece of security camera footage shown in court, Roberts can be seen repeatedly loitering in front of the biscuit section at the Buywise store in Vulcan's Lane just before 5pm on February 20.

Shuffling slowly from shelf to shelf, he is seen peering at the biscuits on display, occasionally crouching to take a closer look. He twice changes his mind after selecting biscuits, before finally settling on packets of Kit-Kats.

At one point, after a few minutes, the shop's owner Jane Smith - by this time suspicious - shouts over to him, asking if he is okay.

Finally, still hidden from the shop's owner at the back of the shop, Roberts stashes three packets of chocolate biscuits in his inside jacket pocket and then puts two more in his outer pockets before ambling towards the exit.

But before he could make his "getaway", the store owner challenges him, bluntly telling Roberts: "I'll have the two packets in your pocket, please."

Shamefaced, he hands them over and then leaves - without paying for the chocolate biscuits still hidden in his inner pockets.

The entire crime took more than 7 minutes.

Yet even when he was confronted by the clear video footage at Carlisle's Rickergate Magistrates Court, Roberts - wearing the same distinctive trainers he wore in the CCTV footage - was initially unwilling to admit his crime.

But after viewing the footage for a third time, the defendant, of Common End, Distington, changed his mind and pleaded guilty.

"The defendant spent seven minutes and 35 seconds in the store, meandering around the shop as he tried to put items in his pockets," said prosecutor Pamela Fee.

"He was extremely slow. This suggested that he was intoxicated in some way, either through drink or drugs."

Though only worth £3, the stolen biscuits were taken from a small community shop which can ill-afford to lose stock to shoplifters, she said.

The court was told the defendant was released in February from a two year jail term he was given for robbery. For the theft he committed at Buywise, magistrates imposed an £80 fine with £85 costs, and a £30 victim surcharge.

He must also reimburse the £3 value of the biscuits he stole.