Nelson shoplifter James Weir pleads guilty to new dishonesty charges, steals whisky and meat

Habitual shoplifter James Dean Weir gave staff at Liquorland the thumbs up as he sauntered out of the store with a $40 bottle of whisky he hadn’t paid for.

Today, he was back in court where Judge Richard Russell told him that Nelson was “entitled to a break” from him, after multiple appearances for similar offending in recent years, some of which had landed him in prison.

Weir, wearing an ankle bracelet, clambered over a barrier in the courtroom to enter the dock, and appeared unfazed as the police recounted from the summary of facts what his most recent offending entailed.

In August last year, Weir, 31, went into Woolworths in central Nelson, despite being subject to a trespass order from the store, and took two bottles of cider worth $18 and left without paying.

While remanding him for sentence in April, Judge Russell told Weir that his situation was “serious”, and that prison was an inevitable starting point.

He said supermarkets, shops, and retail outlets in the region were “entitled to a break” from his activities.

Weir was remanded back on electronic bail with a warning that it would likely be revoked, and he would end up in custody until sentencing, if he offended again.

Weir’s recent crime spree was close on the heels of similar offending.

In October 2022, he challenged a supermarket store manager while walking out with hundreds of dollars’ worth of meat and asked: “what are you going to do about it?”

He also confronted a worker outside a workshop with a fake pistol.

In November that year, Weir was jailed after stealing hundreds of dollars’ worth of meat, some of which he stuffed in his jacket, and walked around carrying a fake gun.

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