A Pembroke man admitted to stealing alcohol from two Paget grocery stores when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court this morning.

Abdullah Virgil, 44, pleaded guilty to stealing a six-pack of beer valued at $14.25 from Paget Marketplace on January 24, and a bottle of strawberry vodka valued at $20.25 from Modern Mart on January 27. In both incidents he was spotted by store staff and caught on CCTV footage stealing the beverages.

Virgil was arrested on February 4 and admitted his guilt, according to prosecutor Takiyah Burgess. The court also heard Virgil has multiple previous convictions, and recently served 30 days in prison after stealing from a Marketplace store.

Virgil told the court that after he had come out of prison in January he had lost everything he owned but that he has since made a ‘complete turn around’ and is now ‘officially retired’ from his career as a thief. He told the court he now lives with his mother and works as a painter after ‘sleeping on a park bench’ and being unemployed after his release.

Virgil asked the court to give him a five-year sentence suspended for five years, promising he would not find himself in trouble again.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner gave a sentence of nine months for both offences, but suspended the sentences for 24 months, warning Virgil that if is caught again he might as well “walk to West Gate”.