STEALING wine from a shop after a day of drinking has cost a Coundon man almost £240.

Michael Steven Bugg admitted stealing the alcohol worth £23.68 from Sainsbury’s in St Helen Auckland when he appeared before magistrates in Newton Aycliffe.

Prosecutor Jonathan Bambro said the 26-year-old of Eden Close was seen on CCTV cameras entering the store at about 9.30pm on March 4 and stealing the wine.

Police attended his home at about midnight where they found him still drunk, the court heard.

In interview Bugg said he had been drinking in Bishop Auckland since the morning and had consumed two and a half bottles of wine and 10 pints of ale, rating himself as nine out of 10 on the drunkenness scale.

Bugg said he could not fully remember the incident but accepted he went to the store to steal the alcohol.

Bugg, representing himself in court, said: “I had been drinking, it is out of character for me to drink like that, I apologise to the court.”

He also said he is taking part in a restorative justice programme and is due to meet the store manager to apologise and pay for the wine.

Magistrates ordered Bugg to £238.68 in compensation and fines.