A HOMELESS man who spent three weeks living rough, succumbed to hunger and thirst in a supermarket, magistrates heard.
On Sunday, Mark O'Rourke tucked a bottle of cider and half a cooked chicken beneath his arm and walked out of Asda, with his £4.16 haul, said Sarah Tyrer, prosecuting at Harrogate Magistrates' Court.
But staff were watching him on closed-circuit television and swooped before he could tuck into his feast.
The result was a night in a cell for O'Rourke, 39, who admitted theft when he appeared before the court.
He was given a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 costs.
Shaun Hutton, for O'Rourke, said he had travelled to Harrogate from Leeds hoping to stay in a hostel but had to leave after a few days.
He had spent three weeks living rough in the town, where he was hoping to find a job and somewhere to live.
On Sunday, his jobseeker's allowance had run out and he gave in to hunger and thirst, said Mr Hutton
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