A SERIAL shoplifter, who pretended to police officers that he was one of his childhood friends, has been jailed for perverting the course of justice.

Delroy Johns would often pass himself off as lifelong pal Donny Sam, Oxford Crown Court was told yesterday.

On the most recent occasion, Johns, 36, was caught stealing nine bottles of spirits valued at £194.71p from Tesco on July 2.

Upon arrest, he gave the false name, leading officers to ring Mr Sam the following day to issue a caution.

Prosecutor Tim Boswell said Mr Sam was “understandably quite shocked” but told officers the culprit was probably Johns, of Bulan Road, Headington.

Reading a statement from Mr Sam, Mr Boswell said he felt “very let down and angry” and has “had to justify himself to police over and over again”.

Peter Du Feu, defending, said his client, who has struggled with a heroin addiction, had known Mr Sam since primary school but now realised the distress his actions had caused.

Judge Anthony King called it an “entrenched pattern of dishonesty” and jailed Johns for 120 days.

He said: “You have implicated a wholly innocent person in an offence you have committed. If you try it again you are going to get a savage and swingeing sentence.”