A PAIR of thieves have been jailed for helping themselves to a cage full of expensive spirits at a Hull bar.
Lance Driscoll and Scott Longthorne were drinking together in Lyrics Bar, Whitefriargate, when they spotted the open cellar door, leading to the alcohol.
They took ten bottles and left the pub for Hull Marina, where they were stopped by police on December 16 last year.
Prosecutor Stephen Welch told Hull Crown Court: "The drinks were taken from an insecure cage within the premises of Lyrics.
"The two men were seen leaving together with bags bulging with bottles of alcohol.
"That part of the bar isn't open to the public.
"There wasn't a great deal of sophistication used."
Staff tried to follow Driscoll and Longthorne while other employees alerted the police.
The men then made their way to the marina where they were spotted by officers.
Driscoll managed to run away, while Longthorne was arrested, smashing some of the bottles in the scuffle.
Driscoll was later identified by CCTV footage and arrested.
He originally faced charges of burglary but the Crown Prosecution Service accepted his guilty plea to the lesser charge of theft.
Longthorne was jailed for 12 weeks after he pleaded guilty to theft at Hull Magistrates' Court following his arrest.
Defending Driscoll, Joanna Golding said: "The reason this isn't a burglary offence is because they were in the pubic house as customers.
"They saw an open door and both the cage and the cellar were open. They went down the stairs and opened the door.
"They didn't break anything, they didn't know what was behind the door, although they had their suspicions.
"No one was injured, nothing was damaged.
"It was an opportunity they saw, clearly they are dishonest anyway and they seized the opportunity.
"His record is bad and he knows custody is the only option."
Sentencing Driscoll to 12 weeks in prison, Judge John Dowse told him: "You have pleaded guilty to theft of drinks from a public house from what appears to be a private area that was insecure but that doesn't make it any less serious.
"You have a very poor record, you have three very serious offences on it, including robbery.
"It is also littered with offences of theft and breaches of court orders.
"In light of your history, you must know it's another prison sentence for you."
Driscoll, 26, of Queens Road, west Hull, was jailed for three-and-a-half years in 2013 for burglary and theft.
In 2011, he was jailed for four years for attempted robbery and in 2008 he received a two- year sentence for robbery.
