A man has been banned from entering any ASDA store after scamming the supermarket chain out of £4,000 in a carrier bag trick.
Kenneth Hollis, 43, broke down in tears as he pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud by false representation.
He had managed to sneak £4,001 worth of goods through self-service tills at supermarkets in Birmingham and the Black Country, having only scanned through plastic bags.
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One of the charges read: "At the checkout you scanned plastic bags only and clicked finish and pay, bypassing the weighing scales.
"You then loaded the goods into the carrier bags before paying for the carrier bags only with a debit card before leaving the store without offering payment for the goods selected."
The case was adjourned to next month so that he could be interviewed by the probation service.
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Hollis targeted five supermarkets in total: between 1 October and 8 February, Hollis stole £322 worth of items from a Dudley store, £1,186 of goods from a Birmingham branch, £893 of products from a Tipton supermarket, £795 worth of goods from an Oldbury shop and a further £805 worth of shopping from an ASDA in Halesowen.
Hollis pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrates' Court, where District Judge Shaw told him: "This is a pattern of extremely serious offending because of the high value. Certainly if it's me [sentencing at the next hearing] I will be considering custody and of some length.
"Working against that you have not been in trouble for 12 years. I want a report to know what's going on and what's led to all this."
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Hollis also admitted an offence of driving a Citroen Xsara without insurance on Queensway Halesowen.
He was eventually bailed with a condition not to enter an Asda store.
The judge added: "Keep out of all Asda stores. If you are stupid or foolish enough to offend on bail it will only aggravate your position."
Judge Shaw ruled to adjourn the case to a date in April.
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Last year, an Aussie shopper wrote into the news.com.au legal advice page to enquire about a dubious tip her pal had given about using the self-scanners.
In her letter, the woman explained that her friend 'regularly puts through more expensive veg – such as avocados – as brown onions'.
The friend reckoned this didn't count as theft because she was 'still paying for something' and believed that supermarkets factor in the cost of 'self-checkout fraud' into their prices.
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The woman went on to say she's sure it is stealing and was concerned that her friend would get in trouble.
And it turned out that she was right to be worried, with lawyers Alison and Jillian Barrett confirming that it was indeed theft.
They replied: "It doesn't matter how your friend tries to justify her behaviour, her deceitful conduct in intentionally not paying full price is against the law.
"Your friend's technique of using the self-service checkout to pass off more expensive items as cheaper ones cheats the system by underpaying.
"Her fraudulent behaviour is just one of many tricks employed by self-service thieves to avoid payment."
Topics: UK News
Jess Hardiman