A SHOPLIFTER strolled out of a Carlisle store wearing a pair of £80 trainers which he hadn't paid for, leaving his old pair behind.

But 51-year-old David Edward McMillan had not reckoned with the determination of the staff at the city’s Sports Direct store, who promptly followed him out of the store and confronted him in the city centre.

McMillan readily admitted his guilt but said he would have to go back to the Scotch Street store to retrieve his old trainers as he had nothing else to wear.

At the city’s Rickergate Magistrates’ Court, the defendant, of Newlaithes Avenue, pleaded guilty to theft. Prosecutor Pam Ward said McMillan committed the offence just after 3pm on Tuesday, February 22.

Describing what happened, the prosecutor said: “A member of staff had radioed the manager to say that the defendant had left the store wearing the new trainers and had left his own pair behind.

“Staff followed him [into the city centre] and told him to take the trainers off because he hadn’t paid for them. They all then returned to the store because he said he wanted to have his old trainers back as he had nothing else to wear.”

Mrs Ward said the footware stolen by McMillan - a pair of Nike Air Max trainers - could not be resold because they had been worn, though he did offer to give staff £25 if he could keep them. The court heard that the defendant was on a suspended sentence order.

This was an 18-month jail term, suspended for two years for two burglary offences. Magistrates said the case should be sent to Carlisle Crown Court for sentencing. They sent the case there for a hearing on May 31.

In the meantime, McMillan was granted bail.