A SHOPLIFTER was caught out when staff spotted him eating sweets from a pick'n'mix counter, a court heard.

Assistants in Woolworths' Furtherwick Road, Canvey, shop stopped Terence Heath at 1.30pm on Tuesday, after seeing him munching sweets.

When police arrived, Heath swore at them, Southend magistrates heard. Officers asked Heath, 32, of High Street, Canvey, to stop swearing, but he continued.

They searched him and found a pair of women's leggings up his jumper, which he claimed to have taken from a nearby Peacocks store.

Yesterday, Heath admitted to two counts of theft and one of threatening behaviour.

His solicitor, Gavin Burrell, said: "The defendant had gone to Woolworths to look for a mobile phone.

"Although the language used was not particularly pleasant, the defendant was somewhat unhappy and was expressing anger at being arrested.

"He is very sorry for what he has done. He has been working on curbing his alcohol consumption."

Heath was jailed for 28 days for each of the thefts, with the sentences to run concurrently.

No separate penalty was imposed for his threatening behaviour.