Cornelius Price Taken To Court By Tesco Over Spilled Milk

Tesco Cries Over Spilled Milk, Takes Man To Court For £1.50
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Tesco shopping bags are carried in London, Tuesday, April 21, 2009. Tesco PLC, Britain's largest retailer has reported full-year profits rose 2 percent to 2.17 billion pounds (US$3.15 billion) despite higher than expected losses on its fledgling U.S. venture. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
ASSOCIATED PRESS

A man has been taken to court and ordered to pay £1.50 in compensation to a Tescoin Llandrindod Wells - after he spilled some milk.

Shopper Cornelius Price admitted criminal damage after throwing a temper tantrum in the Welsh superstore and spilling a six pint bottle.

He was allegedly verbally abusive and later escorted off the premises.

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The Tesco store in Llandrindod Wells where Price spilled the milk

"He was verbally abusive and escorted off the premises. £1.50 compensation is requested for the milk."

Phil Sherrard, defending, said: "This is minor criminal damage. He knows he should have been more careful with the milk."

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In a police interview, Price said he had thrown the carton towards a store manager and told him to "catch it" when it "accidentally" spilled on the floor.

The unemployed man, 40, was ordered to pay a total of £181.50, including £1.50 compensation for the spilled milk, a £20 victim surcharge, £85 in court costs and a £75 fine.

The money will be taken out of his benefits at £10 each fortnight.

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Being compensated for £1.50 for spilled milk follows a particularly rough year for Tesco, prompting fears about its future performance.

In September Tesco'schairman was forced to resign as the supermarket revealed that its pre-tax profits had plunged by a record 91.9% and its £250m accounting scandal was bigger than previously thought.

Britain's biggest supermarket admitted its pre-tax profits for the first half of the year had fallen to £112 million, with its investigation revealing it had previously overestimated profit expectations by £263 million.

Tesco's UK like-for-like sales were down 4.6% for the six months to August 2014 amid "strong competition across the grocery market", showing that the troubled grocer is still being battered in a price war and suffering from the discounters Aldi and Lidl.