Two shoplifters have been given conditional discharges after targeting stores in Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds.

William Galloway, 37, of Gaye Street, Ipswich, pleaded guilty when he appeared before the town’s magistrates to stealing a watch worth £14.99 from The Range in Suffolk Retail Park on November 11.

Prosecutor Wayne Ablett said Galloway set the alarms off as he left the store as the security tag was still on the watch.

Paul Booty, representing Galloway, said his client had no idea what happened on the day or why he took the watch.

Galloway knew he was under scrutiny from store detectives but still put the watch in his pocket and walked out.

Magistrates gave the former mental health nurse a six-month conditional discharge. He must also pay £45 costs and £20 to the victims’ fund.

In a separate hearing before the same court Melanie O’Boyle, of The Close, Kennett, near Newmarket, admitted stealing three perfumes totalling £153 from Debenhams in Bury St Edmunds on October 5.

The 42-year-old self-employed cleaner also admitted being in breach of a 12-month conditional discharge which she was given almost a year earlier for a previous theft offence.

The court heard O’Boyle had been seen on CCTV selecting fragrances and then putting them in a child’s buggy before leaving the store without paying.

She told police she was intending to sell the perfume on.

O’Boyle told the court: “I’m disgusted (with myself) again. I’m ashamed. I was desperate basically.”

Magistrates gave O’Boyle another 12-month conditional discharge and fined her £25. She must also pay £45 costs as well as £30 to the victims’ fund.