A man with no money stole from four shops on different days and nicked a bike left outside a gym.
Mantas Kizevicius (23), of London Road, Spalding, was spotted in a restricted area – the loading bay at the back of Poundstretcher – on September 19.
Jim Clare, prosecuting, said staff reviewed CCTV, which showed him selecting two bags of bedding worth a total of £40 from the store in Spalding’s Holland Market.
A police special constable found him with the stolen items a short time later.
Kizevicius was released on police bail and, on October 15, he was seen stealing two packets of razor blades worth a total of £60 from Boots in Hall Place, Spalding.
Mr Clare said security staff chased after Kizevicius, who dumped the razor blades on Gore Lane.
Staff couldn’t catch up with Kizevicius, but he was identified later from CCTV.
The bike was stolen on October 11 after the owner left it outside Pro-Bodies Gym, in High Street, Spalding.
Kizevicius was again identified from CCTV pictures and told police he took the bike to ride because “his leg was hurting” and afterwards dumped it in the town centre.
Kizevicius pleaded guilty to three thefts and asked for two more thefts to be taken into consideration by Spalding magistrates on Thursday – three jackets worth a total of £75 from Peacocks and a £35 pair of trousers from Nike.
He was given a year’s community order with 140 hours’ unpaid work and must pay £85 costs, a £60 victim surcharge, and £160 compensation for items not recovered.
Solicitor Anita Toal, mitigating, said Kizevicius was out of work and had been wrongly told he was not entitled to benefits.
She said: “All of the offences were committed out of a need for money.”
Mrs Toal said he made frank admissions to the police.