ANGER at shop staff led a man to walk out with a vacuum cleaner after he was refused an exchange, Grimsby Magistrates' Court heard.
Shaun Young, 48, of Kings Road, Immingham, admitted stealing a vacuum cleaner, valued at £79, from The Factory Shop on April 2.
Anthony Mowbray, prosecuting, said Young turned up "the worse for wear for drink" at the Immingham shop and demanded that a faulty vacuum cleaner was exchanged.
He was refused as he could not produce a receipt – so picked up a vacuum cleaner from a display and "marched out with it". Richard Hackfath, mitigating, said Young had moved into a new flat and thought, "for the first time in his life", that he would go out and buy a vacuum cleaner so he could "look after" his new home.
"Within a month, it broke," said Mr Hackfath. "He tried to return it, but staff said he would need a receipt.
"He went away nursing a grievance, having been told: 'That's your hard luck, you haven't kept the receipt'."
Young went back and spoke to staff about the grievance before deciding to "take matters into his own hands".
Unemployed Young was ordered to pay £79 compensation.
District judge Daniel Curtis told him: "You had a genuine grievance which could have been dealt with in a different way by the shop.
"It's not the way for you to have gone about this."
