A migrant living in an asylum hotel claimed he had to steal a £1,000 jacket because he was only given £9 a week to live on, a court has heard.
Varlami Bobokhidze, a 36-year-old Georgian national, was arrested after making multiple trips to the West End to steal items from high end stores last month.
At the time, he was living at the Holiday Inn in Wembley, north London, which is currently being used by the Government to house migrants.
He stole a pair of Levi shorts worth £55 from John Lewis on July 17 and a Moncler jacket worth £1,005 from designer department store Liberty London on Regent Street on July 31.
When he was eventually arrested, he told police: ‘I’m in a hotel, I only have £9.’
