Coleraine man remanded after he stole tip jar from Derry restaurant
Defendant targeted riverside eatery and walked out of Sainsbury's with £207 of goods
A man has appeared at Derry Magistrate's Court today charged with stealing the tip jar from a local restaurant.
Lawrence Mubango (27) with an address at Cromore Court in Coleraine appeared charged with the theft from Burn restaurant on July 25.
He was also charged with the theft of alcohol valued at £207 from Sainsburys on July 21.
The court heard that on July 25 a man entered Burn restaurant on the river and asked for a table and staff went to check availability before returning when the man said he didn't want one after all and left.
It was then noticed that the tip jar containing between £300 to £400 was missing.
Mubango was identified by CCTV and operators were able to direct police to Patrick Street where they located the defendant who denied it was him on the CCTV and said it was a case of mistaken identity.
The court was also told that on July 21 a man entered Sainsburys and lifted 8 bottles of vodka and two beer valued at £207) and left without paying.
A security guard followed the man out and when challenged he dropped the bag .
The incident was captured on CCTV but Mubango denied it was him on the footage.
A police officer said the defendant had 'a very relevant criminal record' with 17 previous convictions in this jurisdiction and 10 breaches of bail.
He added that the defendant had only recently been released from prison .
Defence counsel Joel Lindsay said his bail application was 'an uphill struggle'.
He said the defendant was an asylum seeker and tge problem was that if he went to prison it was difficult for him to secure a new address.
The barrister said that his client denied that it was him on the CCTV in both cases.
Bail was refused and Mubango was remanded in custody to appear again on August 13.