A COUPLE stole booze worth more than £200 during a shopping trip to Sainsbury's in Penrith.

At Carlisle's Rickergate Magistrates' Court, Luminiti Lenuta Mustafa, 27, and her husband Viorel Ratoi, 23, both of Bourges Boulevard, Peterborough, entered guilty pleas to the shoplifting offence, committed on June 4.

They stole "expensive brandy", valued at £225, said prosecutor Carl Gaffney.

The lawyer told District Judge John Temperley that the couple did pay for some items as they left the shop but they left without paying for the alcohol, which was not recovered. As Ratoi - who is also known by the alias Alin Dune - entered his guilty plea he added the words: "I'm sorry."

The court heard that Ratoi has recent criminal convictions for dishonesty while in the UK. District Judge Temperley sent the case to the the magistrates' court in couple's home town of Peterborough, where they will be sentenced on January 10.

The prosecutor said compensation of £112 was being claimed from each defendant.