A THIEF who filled his rucksack with meat at a supermarket and picked up a box of wine to fraudulently obtain a refund has been jailed.

Ryan Palmer walked into the Cooperative food store in Abingdon and began filling his rucksack with meat on July 1.

Cathy Olliver, prosecuting, told Oxford Crown Court Palmer then grabbed a box of wine and took it to the counter to try to get a refund.

She said: “He selected a box of wine which he took back to the tills and asked for a refund.

“He left the store with the cash and the meat in his rucksack.”

The court heard that five days previously the 36-year-old had stolen CDs and a sat nav from a car in Rugby as well as £271.96 of hair straighteners and shaving kit.

Palmer, of The Kent, in Hilmorton, Rugby, Warwickshire, admitted fraud by false representation, and theft from a shop at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on July 3.

He also admitted theft from a motor vehicle and theft from a shop at a hearing at Warwickshire Crown Court on July 15.

Jaclin Bastien, defending, said her client was battling drugs and appealed for a suspended sentence so he could have addiction rehabilitation.

She added: “He is a man who is wanting desperately to change the cycle.”

The court heard Palmer had committed the crimes within a week of being given nine months in jail, suspended for a year for stealing an Xbox from the children’s room of University Hospital Coventry.

Judge Ian Pringle said on Tuesday he understood Palmer’s drug problem but his 71 past convictions stood against him.

Palmer was jailed for 15 months.