A 21-YEAR-OLD father who has already been to prison five times was jailed yesterday for stealing alcohol.

In September, Timothy Horrigan was with a gang of people when he stole £113.63 of alcohol from Asda, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, while on licence, South Durham Magistrates' Court heard.

David Chadwick, prosecuting, said Horrigan, of Wicklow Street, Middlesbrough, was seen by a store detective on CCTV putting bottles of spirits into a shopping trolley.

His co-accused, Lisa Marie Ferry, who has already been sentenced by Teesside magistrates, was also seen putting drink into a shopping basket, the Newton Aycliffe magistrates were told.

Mr Chadwick said the pair then went to the store's clothing section and Horrigan cut the plastic security tags off the bottles before placing them in a plastic bag.

The security officer stopped her as she was leaving the store with the bags, but she was pulled away by Horrigan and another man.

They were arrested immediately and Horrigan pleaded guilty to theft.

David Dedman, in mitigation, said his client was sent back to prison because he was on licence and due to be released again on December 16.

He requested that magistrates kept any prison sentence to within the next four weeks.

Mr Dedman said: "It would be cruel, given his release date is December 16, to extend it, particularly with it being Christmas, because he does have young children."

Horrigan, who also admitted breaching a three-year conditional discharge imposed in June last year, was sentenced to four months imprisonment.