Police pour ice on Smirnoff

A MAN stole two bottles of wine from a Great Yarmouth supermarket gave police a false surname of Smirnoff, a court heard.

Vasilij Juferov, of no fixed abode, had gone into the Sainsbury's store on St Nicholas Road at around 8am on July 23 and slipped two bottles of wine worth �9.48 off the display and put them into the waistband of his trousers.

Prosecuting Peter Coe told the court that Juferov, 29, made no attempt to pay and was detained by the stores security guard.

Police were called to the supermarket and Juferov tried to give officers a false surname of Smirnoff.

Appearing at Yarmouth Magistrates Court on Friday Juferov pleaded guilty to theft and obstructing a police officer.

Mitigating Heather Little said: “He gave officers the first silly name which came in his head. He had met the officer before and even had his passport in his pocket; it was a silly reaction.”

The court heard he had travelled from Russia to Yarmouth in the hope of finding work but had failed to do so.

Describing his situation as “desperate” Ms Little said Juferov had previous convictions for theft and had spent several spells in prison. He was released from prison on July 6 and was living on the streets in Yarmouth when he found a job in Manchester collecting second hand clothes.

Juferov travelled to Manchester but came back to Yarmouth when his employers refused to pay him for his work.

Ms Little said: “He picked up his old situation and has been living on the street. He has nowhere to go and admits one of the reasons he cannot get a job is because he can't speak English. He wanted to get drunk because he had no other options, and he still doesn't.”

Juferov was given a six-month conditional discharge and magistrates made no order for costs because of his means.