A DRUNKEN shopper’s fumbled attempt to pick up a set of tiles will put him behind bars for eight weeks if he doesn’t behave himself and kick his drug and alcohol habits, York magistrates said.

Damon Vincent Brolly, 21, dropped the £49.90 pack of tiles at Topps Tiles, in Layerthorpe, York, when he tried to lift them one-handed while holding a can of beer in the other hand. They smashed on the ground three-and-a-half feet below.

At the time, he was on a community order for theft, which he had already breached once.

Brolly, of Byland Avenue, off Huntington Road, pleaded guilty to criminal damage, failure to attend court on July 26 and breaching the community order for the second time by not attending unpaid work appointments.

Magistrates revoked the community order and sentenced him for all offences, including the theft that led to it by giving him an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months on condition he stays out of trouble, does 18 months’ supervision and nine months’ drug rehabilitation and an alcohol rehabilitation programme.

He must also pay £49.99 compensation. His solicitor Colin Byrne said he was drunk when he went into the shop on July 14 and that is why he dropped the tiles. He said Brolly was having a crisis in his personal life at the time and was using amphetamines and mephedrone and drinking.

He was also leading a chaotic lifestyle.