A 43-year-old man who admitted stealing prescription medication has been fined £750.

George Alexander Jamie MacLaren, of Viking Road, Willaston, took a carrier bag which a customer had left in the Co-op.

He claimed he had picked the bag up accidentally and that he had then panicked and put it in a bin at the bus station.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that the complainant in the case was in the Co-op on Duke Street in Douglas on November 14.

The customer was at the check out and put down their bag of medication as they paid for their groceries.

However, they then left the store without picking up the medication, leaving it by the check out counter.

MacLaren was in the queue with his girlfriend and put his bag on the floor next to the medication.

He then picked up both bags and left the shop while his girlfriend finished paying for her items.

He was then seen on CCTV footage outside putting his own bag and the bag containing the medication into his rucksack.

The complainant later rang the Co-op to ask if they had left their medication there but none could be found.

However staff checked their CCTV footage which showed MacLaren picking up the bag.

Police subsequently released an appeal due to the large amount of medication and MacLaren was identified.

He was arrested but the medication was not found.

When interviewed he handed in a prepared statement saying he had picked up the bag by mistake having thought it belonged to his girlfriend. He said that he realised his mistake while waiting for a bus so he put the bag into a bin. He then answered ’no comment’ to all other questions.

The bag was said to contain eight medications, including two inhalers.

Defence advocate Ian Kermode entered a basis of plea for his client in which MacLaren reiterated his statement that he had picked up the bag in error then thrown it away.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes also ordered him to pay £125 prosecution costs.