A MAN stole £127 of meat to pay for his journey across England to his sister's wedding, York magistrates heard.

Cathy Turnbull, prosecuting, said Vincent McCormick, 33, targeted Co-op stores in the city twice in two days.

On January 11, he took meat worth £55 out of the Tang Hall Lane store without paying for it, and on January 12, he took £72 worth of meat out of the store in Regents' Building, York Road, Acomb.

But his actions were recorded on CCTV and he was arrested.

He told police he had taken the meat to sell to raise funds so he could hire a car for his sister's wedding.

McCormick, of Rosemary Court, off Walmgate, York, who has many previous shoplifting convictions, pleaded guilty to two charges of theft and was ordered to do 120 hours' unpaid work and pay the Co-op £127 compensation as well as £40 towards the prosecution costs.

For him, Chris McGrogan said he had needed money to pay for a hire car to get to his sister's wedding.

She was getting married in the Lake District and he had reserved a room for himself and his partner at a hotel in Windermere, which he was paying for in instalments.

But then he lost his job and his own car needed a new gasket at a cost of £200.

Mr McGrogan said: "He couldn't afford to pay for travel (by public transport) to get over to Windermere, that was £190 return, he couldn't afford to pay for his car to be repaired.

"He still had monies to pay to the hotel, so he returned to what he used to do and he stole these items."

McCormick had since found a job starting the week after the court case, as a delivery driver, and he was hoping to move into new accommodation with his partner a few days after that. He was now feeling optimistic about the future.