A shoplifter was caught doubled over in pain after he decided to eat his haul of Scotch bonnet chillies whole still in the shop.
Marcus Banwell made the mistake of eating his red hot haul from Singh Stores in Bristol before trying to make his escape.
Bristol magistrates heard that within a matter of seconds, the 39-year-old was coughing and being sick as the fiery food took effect.
The owner of the shop was alerted to the commotion on August 4 and followed Banwell outside onto the street, where he was arrested by police a short while later.
Prosecuter May Li said when officers searched Banwell they found another four chilli peppers in his pocket, a stolen milk shake and fruit juice, and a clarinet stashed in his waist-band, which was missing from a music shop.
The heat of a chilli pepper is measured using the scoville scale.
The Scotch Bonnet, also known as Boabs Bonnet or Caribbean red pepper, is named for its resemblance to a Tam o'shanter hat.
Most Scotch Bonnets have a heat rating of 100,000-350,000 scoville units. This compares to the rating of most jalapeño peppers, which is 2,500-8,000.
Ms Li said police also found paper wraps containing a small amount of crack cocaine and small amount of heroin on Banwell.
The clarinet, which had a 'Green Goblin' sticker on it, was missing from a music shop on Park Street with the same name.
Banwell said he had picked the instrument - worth more than £200 - up from a 'free shop' in Stokes Croft and had never been to the Green Goblin.
Banwell, from Fishponds, Bristol, admitted possessing two class A drugs, three shop thefts, receiving stolen goods and breaching his licence from a previous prison sentence.
On June 16, he was spotted by security guards at the Co-operative supermarket on the Gloucester Road trying to steal four bottles of red wine, having already been banned from the store.
On July 22, Banwell and an unknown woman stole meat, fish and pizza worth £13.17 from Sainsbury's in Fishponds.
Ms Li said Banwell had been caught for a total of 43 previous theft-related offences since 1989.
Mitigating, Emily Evans said her client had serious issues with drugs and alcohol that he did want to address.
She said since he had been remanded in custody he had been to a number of classes and courses designed to address addiction. [Oh I'm sure he's so fucking sincere in that.]
She said: 'It's something he does want to address so, upon his release, he can start afresh with his partner and he wants to move away from Bristol.
Ms Evans said Banwell had not been receiving his benefits since March and had stolen food and drink to feed himself, not for any financial gain.
Presiding magistrate Rachel Simmons told him: 'You have continued to offend while subject to your licence and other court orders, so we really do not have any other option but to make a further custodial sentence.'
The bench imposed a total of six weeks' custody for the new offences, to run consecutively with an eight-week sentence for breaching the terms of his licence, making a total of 14 weeks.
He had already served 14 days remanded in custody, which will be deducted from his sentence.
Shoplifting some hot goods
Shoplifting some hot goods
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Shoplifting some hot goods
Oh dear, it's hotter going out than in. X^P
