A DRUG user who stole food from supermarkets by putting it down his trousers has been jailed.

Luis Carneiro was seen taking meat, cheese, butter and chocolate from the shops across Nottingham, and became aggressive when confronted about one of the thefts.

He swore and said "I will smash your face in" to a female shop worker at Farmfoods in Mapperley Top, after she saw him putting joints of lamb down his trousers.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Carneiro, also known as Lewis Desilva, also misused alcohol in addition to his drug use.

Judge Dudley Bennett said Carneiro was too old to be committing such offences.

"At 43 you should know a whole lot better," he said. "You are not a teenager. You committed these offences very rapidly after you were made the subject of a suspended sentence at this court."

Carneiro, of Woodland Gardens, St Ann's, was previously given a 34-week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months, for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and breach of a community order.

Judge Bennett reactivated this sentence and gave Carneiro an additional seven months for his new offences. He pleaded guilty to four charges of theft and one of using threatening behaviour at Nottingham Magistrates' Court.

The first two thefts happened on April 1. Carneiro was caught on CCTV putting £8.48 of meat down his trousers at a Somerfield store, and walking out. Later that day he was seen putting joints of lamb down his trousers by the shop worker at Farmfoods in Mapperley Top, who he then threatened.

Police found Carneiro hiding in gardens and arrested him after a struggle.

On June 13 a security guard at Tesco, on Shakespeare Street, Nottingham city centre, approached Carneiro after seeing him steal meat, cheese and butter totalling £19.05.

When confronted, Carneiro said he would pay for the items, then ran further into the store, and became aggressive when detained by the security guard.

Carneiro was also caught in possession of a small amount of cannabis, but he was given no separate penalty for this.

On September 1, Carneiro entered Tesco Express in Carlton Hill carrying a carrier bag with another stuffed inside, making staff suspicious. He walked over to the chocolate bars, picked up a handful and put them down his trousers. When searched he had more chocolate, worth a total of £25.89.

Richard Posner, in mitigation, said Carneiro had been locked in a cycle of drug and alcohol use for the last few months, which led to his offending.

However, he has been alcohol-free while in custody and has obtained a prescription for methadone.

He added that Carneiro was likely to lose his council flat if jailed.

caroline.lowbridge@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk