A SHOP worker challenged thief Tony Caller after seeing him walk out of Peacocks store in Ely with stolen goods stuffed under his jacket. Katie Edgeley saw Caller transferring the stolen items into a carrier bag as he stood in The Cloisters, and asked him

A SHOP worker challenged thief Tony Caller after seeing him walk out of Peacocks store in Ely with stolen goods stuffed under his jacket.

Katie Edgeley saw Caller transferring the stolen items into a carrier bag as he stood in The Cloisters, and asked him to hand them back.

Turning out the carrier bag, Caller produced a torch, a pair of jeans, a pack of socks and a polo shirt, worth a total of £31.

At Ely courthouse on Thursday, 30-year-old Caller, of Castle Lodge Hotel, Ely, admitted shop lifting on November 21.

When arrested, Caller had been remorseful and claimed he committed the theft to pay for drugs, said prosecutor Matthew Bradbury. "He is a prolific offender," he added.

Mitigating, solicitor Jacqui Baldwin said Caller had no idea why he stole the goods. He does not take drugs, she said, but does have mental health problems.

Caller was fined £100 and ordered to pay £50 costs and a £15 surcharge.