A BRAZEN thief who stole more than a thousand pounds worth of merchandise from Greenock Tesco is today beginning a prison sentence.

Patrick Altizio - whose haul of goods has never been recovered - helped himself to an array of items over a period of seven months.

Altizio, 44, stole vacuum cleaners and air fryers from the Dalrymple Street store, returning multiple times, often just days apart, to lift identical electrical items.

The total value of the haul - which also included large quantities of booze - was £1,147.

Altizio was cleared of a handful of similar charges from last year after he pleaded guilty to the shoplifting offences, breaching bail and curfew conditions and failing to appear for a court hearing.

He targeted the supermarket on at least eight occasions throughout last year and made off with six air fryers and three vacuum cleaners.

He took a Henry vacuum worth £159 on May 14 last year whilst flouting night-time curfew hours and the following day he committed an identical crime.

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On June 4, Altizio stole two air fryers before returning just 24 hours later to take another air fryer and a vacuum cleaner.

Similar raids were carried out in July, and Altizio was granted bail in the same month and banned from entering the store.

However, he ignored the court directive and committed further thefts in November 2023, while he also missed a court hearing in the same month.

None of the stolen items were recovered, according to prosecutors.

Defence solicitor Gerry Keenan told a previous hearing that Altizio's acts were 'motivated by his need to obtain money to fund an addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine'.

Describing his client as 'a man with complex needs', Mr Keenan told the court: "He has accepted responsibility for his offending.

"He was surrounded by the wrong types of people when he returned to Greenock and he succumbed to temptation."

Sheriff James Varney sentenced Altizio to 344 days behind bars.