A CHESTER man stole fish tank cleaner and two types of fish food from a city pet shop – even though he doesn’t own any fish.

Christopher Alan Davidson, 37, claimed he had been “drunk” on painkillers prescribed for a leg ulcer and didn’t remember the incident at Pets at Home on March 1.

When challenged by staff, he reportedly told them the items belonged to him and he had them with him before he entered the store on Chester Retail Park.

Davidson, of Hatton Road, Blacon, was interviewed by police several weeks later and made full admissions after being shown CCTV images of himself in the shop.

At Chester Magistrates Court on Monday (June 17), he pleaded guilty to stealing two bottles of ‘goldfish aqua cleaner’, two packs of ‘Tetra fish food’ and two packs of ‘Fluval goldfish bites’ worth £47.96 in total.

He was handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, and must also pay a £50 fine.

Howard Jones, defending, told the court it was a “nonsensical offence” as Davidson had no pet fish and fish food was “not readily sellable”.

“He doesn’t have any fish – goldfish or tropical fish – so there was no need for him to take these items,” the solicitor said.

“He doesn’t know why he did it.”

Mr Jones said his client had a number of health issues, the most serious being severe ulcers on his leg, which may even have to be amputated.

Davidson, who hobbled into the courtroom using a stick, is said to often be in “excruciating” pain and had been prescribed strong painkillers.

He said that on the day of the fish food theft his doctor had given him a high dose of one of the drugs leaving him feeling “extremely woozy or ‘drunk’, as he described it”.

“He simply doesn’t remember the offence,” Mr Jones told the court.

Davidson, who has an eight-year-old son, was said to have a number of previous convictions with his latest offence putting him in breach of post-sentence supervision.

As part of his sentence, he must complete 60 days of rehabilitation activity and pay a £115 victim surcharge.