Man jailed for stealing tortoise and phone - Update

A man in Northern Ireland has been jailed for nine months for stealing a tortoise and a homeless man's mobile phone. David Weir took the tortoise from a Belfast pet store and sold it for £60 to feed his alcohol addiction, Belfast Magistrates' Court heard.

He also took a phone from a vulnerable man eating a takeaway meal in a city centre alleyway. Sentencing Weir, 30, District Judge Desmond Perry said he would steal anything. Weir pleaded guilty to charges of theft over both offences.



The tortoise, valued at £250, was stolen in August last year. A defence lawyer told the court it was fit and well the last time Weir saw it. However, it was accepted that the defendant did not know where it was now.

Judge Perry said that it could not have got very far. Sentences of four months and five months were imposed for the two offences, with Judge Perry ordering him to serve them consecutively.

Previously.