A MAN stole expensive bottles of Champagne - but sold them on cheaply to pay for food and accommodation when he was sleeping rough.

Jonathan Lynsey, now of Langdon Road in Parkstone, was briefly homeless after leaving prison. In January, he told three bottles of Champagne worth a total of £393 from Marks and Spencer in Poole.

He quickly sold the bottles for much less than their value, a court has now heard.

The defendant, 46, appeared visibly upset as he admitted three counts of theft and two of commission of a further offence while subject to a conditional discharge order at Poole Magistrates’ Court on Friday, April 13.

The court heard Lynsey, who lost an eye in an attack while sleeping rough, is a ‘friendly and engaging’ person.

Magistrates said they were “encouraged” to hear he now has accommodation.

The defendant was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 in compensation. No costs were ordered due to Lynsey’s means.