A SENTENCE of 12 weeks' imprisonment was "absolutely right" for a first-time champagne thief, York Crown Court heard.

Ionut Catalin Corbu, 25, was appealing against the prison term imposed by district judge Adrian Lower for stealing a trolley-load of items from Asda's Monks Cross store including 48 bottles of champagne.

He claimed he had only stolen because he was penniless and had been let down by his girlfriend.

But Judge Simon Hickey sitting with two magistrates rejected his account.

"This must have been targeted theft," he said. "This man must have travelled some distance from Leicestershire in order to steal.

"He must have had some form of transport nearby if he was to move the items.

"The district judge was absolutely right to impose 12 weeks' immediate custody."

Corbu, of Sword Drive, Hinckley, Leicestershire pleaded guilty to stealing items worth £1,892 on October 13. He had been cautioned for theft a month earlier, but had no convictions in the UK.

Matthew Collins, prosecuting, said staff at the store became suspicious of Corbu because of the random way he was putting items in the trolley.

When they approached, he ran off, abandoning the trolley, but was captured.

For him, Caroline Abraham said he had bought a one-way train ticket from Coventry to York to live with the partner he had met over the internet.

But on arrival, he had been unable to contact her, so had turned to shoplifting to get some money.

The appeal bench rejected the account, pointing out Monks Cross was three miles from the railway station, Corbu had at least £500 in savings and he lived in Hinckley, not Coventry.

Corbu's account prompted a probation officer to carry out extensive investigations into whether Corbu should be treated as a potential victim of modern slavery, the court heard.

But the 25-year-old Romanian had denied that he was being exploited.

Mr Collins said two other Eastern Europeans had been present in the store, but the CPS had no evidence that they were linked to Corbu.