A TURKEY and champagne thief is making do with "porridge" for Christmas instead of the luxury food he tried to steal.

A store detective at the Marks & Spencer store in Parliament Street opened the door for William Herbert, 43, as he left with £165.75-worth of food, drink and other items which had not been paid for, said prosecutor Emma Pearce.

But as soon as Herbert stepped on to the pavement, the employee told him to go back inside - because she had caught his crimes on closed circuit television and followed him through the store.

Today Herbert was starting 28 days in jail for theft.

York magistrates heard that he had stolen a turkey, a salmon, bottles of champagne and vodka, a ladies' jacket, a leather wallet, a silver watch, a knife and £58 of vouchers.

They also heard that he had only just been released from a 28-day prison term imposed at Bow Street Magistrates for theft.

Herbert, of Kirby Estate, Southwark Park Road, London, pleaded guilty to theft.

Miss Pearce said that staff at Marks & Spencer noticed Herbert acting suspiciously at lunchtime on Sunday and started monitoring him on CCTV.

The detective saw him put the ladies' jacket in a freezer bag, go downstairs to the store's food hall, take a turkey from the display and put it in another freezer bag and make his way to the store's Pavement exit.

As soon as he left, she told him to come back and called the police.

He told the detective the only item he had which he had not paid for was a small bottle of vodka, but a police search revealed the other stolen items.

For Herbert, Charles Cooper said he had a long list of criminal convictions and had served many jail terms.

"Imprisonment doesn't work in terms of helping him mend his ways," he said, and urged the magistrates not to lock him up.

Updated: 10:07 Tuesday, December 24, 2002