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A shoplifter high on drugs who thought he was invisible was proved wrong when he was spotted stealing from a shop.

Andrew Simon Mylan was “off his head” on zopiclone when he was caught shoplifting in a Stockton store, a court heard.

One of the effects of the drugs was that the thief believed that he was invisible, said his solicitor Denis Chisman.

But his imagined cloak of invisibility wasn’t enough to stop him being arrested, magistrates were told.

Teesside Magistrates’ Court heard how the 38-year-old went into McColls in Stockton high street with an empty bag.

Prosecutor Guy Prest told the court that Mylan filled up the bag with toiletries, worth £26, which he then failed to pay for.

He was caught and, following his arrest, he admitted he was “out of his head” on zopiclone at the time of the offence.

Zopiclone is prescribed by doctors for the treatment of insomnia but, used as a street drug, is known as “zimmers” or “zimmies”.

And, according to one online user’s guide, zopiclone users “can get over-confident, with the worst cases becoming deluded that they are more-or-less invisible”.

This can “lead users into unplanned risky activities, believing that they won’t get caught – like shoplifting in a store” the website added.

Mylan, of Squadron Court, Martinet Road, Thornaby, admitted stealing the items from the store.

Mr Chisman, in mitigation, said Mylan had the ability to keep out of trouble but at the moment he was struggling with an addiction to zopiclone.

Mylan knew full well that if he continued to commit offences he would end up in Holme House Prison and he didn’t want that, said his solicitor.

The magistrates told him he was “skating on thin ice”.

They said it was so serious that the custody threshhold had been passed but they were willing to suspend the sentence.

He was given a six-week prison sentence suspended for six months and warned that he would go to prison if he re-offended.

Mylan, who is on benefits, wasn’t ordered to pay compensation.

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