A man went on a pre-planned “smash and grab” in a Burnley store stealing products worth hundreds of pounds.

Blackburn Magistrates' Court heard Shahid Sarwar had bags positioned in his trolley as he cleared shelves of stock in B&M Bargains.

Sarwar, 48, of Gannow Lane, Burnley, pleaded guilty to theft of coffee, 40 bottles of Brut aftershave, 60 bottles of Lynx aftershave, 20 bottles of Adidas aftershave, 36 bottles of L’Or moisturiser, six Milka chocolate bars, 12 tubs of vanilla whey protein and other items with a total value of £781.

He was sentenced to eight weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, with a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement and a 15-day rehab activity requirement.

He was ordered to pay £150 compensation by Deputy District Judge Andrew Teate.

“You filled the bags by simply scraping the items off the shelves,” he said. “It mounted up to a high-value theft and none of the goods were recovered.”

Judge Teate said Sarwar had an appalling record and the decision he had to make was whether to send him straight back to prison or suspend a prison sentence.

“In the past, you have been repeatedly sent to prison for relatively short periods," he said.

“The Probation Service say they can still work with you in the community and I am going to put the ball back in your court.

"If you come back during this suspended sentence you will be looking at a much longer sentence.”

Graeme Tindall, prosecuting, said the offence had been blatant.

“He was caught on CCTV emptying shelves into the bags and then left without making any attempt to pay,” said Mr Tindall.

He said Sarwar had 116 offences on his record, 60 of them for theft.

Gareth Price, in mitigation, said Sarwar was subject to post-sentence supervision and while he wasn’t doing everything asked of him by the Probation Service they were prepared to carry on working with him.