A cousin of Everton striker Danny Cadamarteri decided it would be a good joke to send his family the red shirts of the club's arch Merseyside rivals - Liverpool.

But Craig Cadamarteri, of Otley Road, Bradford, did not buy the football shirts. He stole them on a shoplifting spree around Harrogate which netted him clothing, clocks and razor blades valued at a total of £539.

There were three Liverpool shirts among the haul acquired by Cadamarteri, 22, whose cousin grew up in Bradford before being snapped up by the Merseyside club. And they helped to get him sent to jail yesterday.

He pleaded guilty to five charges of theft from shops when he appeared before Harrogate magistrates and was sent to prison for five months which, according to his solicitor, Ruth Clarke, was the kind of sentence he wanted. Miss Clarke said Cadamarteri had been in custody on remand for four weeks but did not consider he had served long enough.

"He says he has come to a point in his life where he needs time to assess what he is going to do,'' she said.

Cadamarteri had decided that, as his cousin Danny was with Everton, it would be rather amusing to send various family members the red shirts of Liverpool as presents. "Whether it would have been viewed as funny I am not sure," said Miss Clarke.

Co-accused Stephen Thornes, 21, of Parkcliffe Road, Bradford, was ordered to do 10 hours of community service work and pay costs of £70 after pleading guilty to two theft charges involving clothing with a value of £282.96.

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