ANGRY that his home had been searched by police for the sixth time this year, Simon Clarke took revenge by stealing a can of lager from an Ely store.

“I was trying to get back at them, it was completely stupid, I was not thinking straight,” he told city magistrates.

“This was the sixth time they had been round to my address this year, I have never been arrested,” he said. “They had pulled all the kick boards off in my kitchen.”

Clarke, 36, of Meadow Close, Witchford, admitted stealing a �1.69 can of lager from the Spar store on November 8.

After his arrest, Clarke had said he felt the police were harassing him.

But city magistrates were not impressed by his explanation: “I am very alarmed and angry that you have pointed the finger at the police,” said presiding magistrate Hamish Ross.

“They are just doing their job; you are not an angel, you do have previous and you have admitted theft. it is not unacceptable to expect the police to come to your premises and search it, they are allowed to do so.

“Don’t use them as an excuse when you steal a can of lager, it is through your own foolishness that you are here.”

Clarke was fined �100 and ordered to pay �1.69 compensation, �85 costs and a �15 surcharge.