A MAN has been sentenced to six weeks in prison for stealing bottles of gin from Booths in Kendal.

Gerard George McBlain pleaded guilty to stealing a bottle of gin from the Wainwrights Yard store on two separate occasions earlier this year.

On April 9, the 40-year-old took a bottle of Whitley Neill pink grapefruit gin, valued at £29.

On April 12, he took a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin to the value of £31, South Cumbria Magistrates' Court, Barrow, was told.

McBlain, of no fixed address, was sentenced to six weeks in prison for each offence, to be served concurrently.

The reason for the jail time was that McBlain's crimes were aggravated by his previous record of offending.

He was ordered to pay £60 - the cost of the gin - in compensation.

A third charge against him - relating to the alleged damaging of window panes in Kendal - was dismissed due to no evidence being offered.