A MAN was jailed for eight months yesterday after admitting stealing from shops twice in the same month.

Paul Joseph Green, 21, of Wellington Street, Middlesbrough, also admitted perverting the course of justice by giving police officers a false name the first time he was caught, on October 10 last year, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Green admitted stealing razors worth £28 from Boots in Middlesbrough on that date and then stealing air fresheners from Safeway in Middlesbrough on October 23.

The court heard that as Green, who has five aliases, was being charged for the second theft, the same officer who cautioned him under the false name for his first theft was at the station and the lie was discovered.

Jonathan Walker, defending, said his client was a heroin addict at the time of the offences, but had proved in the past he was capable of remaining out of trouble.

Judge Richard Lowden sentenced Green to eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice, and three months for each theft, with sentences to run concurrently.

Seven other offences of theft between May and September were taken into consideration.